MCO: Malaysians Googling new hobbies to fill their time

New research shows Malaysians are mostly searching for games to fill their time, which ranked higher than searches for TV shows, movies and self-improvement hobbies. — Reuters

With Malaysians spending most of their time at home due to the movement control order (MCO), the most popular hobby now appears to be gaming.

According to research by voucher site Picodi, search queries for online games, PC games and board games have increased by 144%, 133% and 124%, respectively, versus March last year.

The site was analysing popular hobbies based on the changes in the popularity of various keywords in March 2020 compared with March last year, according to Google Trends archival data.

“After evaluating statistics, it turned out that all activities that require leaving home have become less popular,” it said in a report, noting that less popular search topics included cinema (-77%), concerts (-44%) and theater (-40%).

Entertainment wasn’t out of the picture though, as searches on TV series went up 33% and movies by 43%, as people could still watch them on streaming services at home.

In terms of hobbies for self improvement, Picodi said searches for learning a foreign language dropped sharply, by 39%, which it attributed to a loss of interest in travel due to movement restrictions in place.

It added that dancing and photography also became less popular, dropping by 22% and 36%, respectively.

Hobbies that could be done around the house did see a minor bump, with puzzles and origami going up 1%, while searches for books, DIY and gardening increased by 3%, 8% and 16%, respectively.