The Internet is incredible. We have access to the world's information at the tips of our fingers. Sometimes, however, all we need to know is "how to kiss."
According to a report by Google, how-to searches are increasing 70 percent year over year, with over 100 million hours of how-to videos being watched so far this year alone. The most searched "how-to" term? "How to kiss," of course.
"Some of us go through periods of ambition (how to become famous—or get a six pack in 3 minutes), others rebellion (how to make a paper airplane)," said YouTube in a blog post. "In the end though, most of us are just trying to find someone to connect with. And while Plato might have told us 'Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the gods,' you can't learn the finer points without YouTube."
According to YouTube, the video sharing site currently offers over 135 million instructional videos, with many falling under the categories of beauty, cooking and home improvement. That's certainly a lot of video, but it doesn't really stack up to the number of videos on YouTube as a whole, which is currently increasing at a rate of 300 hours per minute.
The thing that is most clear through this study is that mobile consumption is increasing extremely quickly, especially among young people.
The change in consumption comes at a time when companies are realizing what mobile is predominantly used for. Most people use their phone for what's called "moments of intent," where they go online to look for the answer to a question or find out something. People do not go online on their phones simply to surf the web anywhere near as much as they do on desktop.
"Mobile has significantly changed how we connect with customers at The Home Depot," said Trish Mueller, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at The Home Depot. "We're now laser focused on how we can use digital to deliver against our customers' needs every moment of the day and every step of their home improvement experience."
In fact, a huge 91 percent of smartphone users turn to their device for help while they're performing a given task, while 67 percent of millennials feel as though they are able to turn to their phone for help on any given task.
YouTube has become literally the website for online video content, with that trend only set to continue into the future.
Photo: Andrew Perry | Flickr
