Revealed: How South Africans use Google

7 Jun 2016

Crowdsourcing is proving its efficacy as a method of research, particularly in the realm of social media. Google SA recently put this to the test in the local market, to great success...

Back in May, Google SA invited South Africans to reveal their Zeitgeist by sharing their stories about Google with the #MyGoogleZA hashtag. It was run as a contest in partnership with 13 local bloggers and aimed to showcase how South Africans use Google in their everyday lives. Showcase it did, proving that when it comes to technology, South Africans really do use it day in and day out, for all sorts of things.

See a selection of examples below:

I uses @googleafrica to monitor my internet profile exposure and as my digital library, spell checks and dictionary #MyGoogleZa @google
— Moses Ramahuma (@1stMo) June 6, 2016

A super cool package from #GoogleZA was delivered to my house �� Just because I shared how Google has helped me in the past. As a new Mom, Google has become my new best friend. From searching for interesting food recipes to online shopping for baby clothes and headbands for my lil one. Share your stories of how Google has helped you and tag #MyGoogleZA to stand a chance to win awesome Google Swag ��

A photo posted by Letshego Zulu (@letshegozulu) on May 5, 2016 at 8:35am PDT

@KateKearney so did I win? ;-) today alone involved 'vit c pregnant', 'acc200 38 weeks', 'how much kiddies panado can I take' #MyGoogleZA
— Kim Hawkins (@KimHawk) May 17, 2016

Mich Atagana

Google SA communications and public affairs head Mich Atagana explains: “The stories that South Africans submitted have given us insight into how real people use our products in their homes, businesses and communities. From the Twitter user who avoided going for a job interview at a sham company thanks to information she found via Google, to the many, many moms who use Google to find out how to help their children when they’re ill, or to do their homework. From saving time in traffic, or finding that dream bursary to study overseas – South Africans use Google in more ways than we had ever imagined.”

Watch Atagana further explain the competition in the tweet embedded below:

Our client Google chats about the #MyGoogleZA competition on the Expresso breakfast showhttps://t.co/axuWsoWBm1 pic.twitter.com/e2m8zjMjOX
— Irvine Bartlett (@IrvineBartlett) June 6, 2016

You can also do some secondary research by searching the #MyGoogleZA tag yourself and adding your own examples!