Iran's Online Trends in Nov.

In the past month, Iranian Internet users showed an increasing interest in politicians, athletes and the weather woes of Tehran. Below are the top ten trending search terms in Iran for the month of November:   

  1. Abbas Jadidi (Persian)

The number one search term in Iran in November concerned a wrestler. Abbas Jadidi registered an increase in searches by 2,500% month-on-month.

The world champion in wrestling and coach became an Internet sensation for visiting an Iranian football player at his death bed and a photo of the two went viral. The wrestler was criticized widely for having taken that picture with the ailing man minutes before his death. 

Numberless memes of the photo were recreated by Iranian users who photoshopped Jadidi onto famous death scenes and iconic historical events. Following the incident, the wrestler apologized about the photo and explained on national television that the alignment of his body made it seem that he was taking a selfie photo, but that was not what he had intended to do. 

  2. HitPlus (Persian)

The second breaking term was HitPlus(.ir)—a website that helps other sites boost the number of hits and views. Searches for the local domain increased 1,250% m/m. The website might have used the same techniques it offers to climb the search rank ladder.

  3. Fidel Castro (Persian)

The next top search trend was the Communist guerrilla leader who led the 1959 Cuban Revolution that ousted the US-aligned Batista government. 

During November, Iranian searches for the former revolutionary increased 750%.

Castro died on November 25 at the age of 90, a decade after stepping down due to poor health and ceding power to his brother Raul Castro. Castro was cremated the following day.

4. Trump (Persian)

With the results of America’s presidential elections out, Iranians’ interest in the new president-elect Donald Trump have grown significantly. Searches for “Donald” increased a whopping 600% during the past month with thousands of people looking at what comes next following his electoral victory.  

The victory of the Republican who won the all-important Electoral College count left the world in shock. 

  5. Behrang Alavi (Persian)

The next top term was the name of an Iranian actor who has played a leading role in a newly launched TV series named Eight and a Half Minutes. 

The popular show is broadcast on Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting’s Channel Two and has plenty of viewers. Searches for the male actor increased a modest 550% during this period.  

  6. Mansour Pourheidari (Persian)

Next up is the late Mansour Pourheidari who was an Iranian football player, coach and manager. After retiring from playing football, Pourheidari started his coaching career and became assistant manager of Esteqlal. 

He was the head coach of the club for nine years, managing the team in more than 300 games. He is the only Iranian that has won an AFC Champions League award as both player and coach.

Searches for the former coach increased 500% during the past Gregorian month, just behind the news of the actor. 

Losing a battle to cancer, Pourheidari passed away on November 4. Ironically, he was the dying man with whom Abbas Jadidi had taken a photo.   

  7. Weather in Tehran (Persian)

The next top term was the weather of Tehran. Last month, the capital received its first snow of the year with temperatures dropping as low as -8 degrees Celsius at night.

Every year, with the cold comes the oppressive air pollution in Tehran which in the past month caused schools to shut down for three days. Searches for this term increased 200% with people looking to avoid the pollution and traffic posed by the cold weather.  

  8-9. Trump and Donald Trump (English)

Donald Trump strikes again! Not only was his name one of the top searches in Iran in Persian, his last and full name in English dominated search trends as well.  Both searches increased 300% in the last month.    

  10. Arbaeen (Persian)  

Last on the list of top ten search terms in November was Arbaeen. 

Tens of thousands of Iranian pilgrims travel to Karbala in Iraq annually to mark Arbaeen, also known as Chehlom in persian, to commemorate the end of the 40-day mourning anniversary related to the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (PBUH), Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) grandson, in a battle in 680 AD. This year, the event fell on November 20. Searches for the religious event also increased by 300% during the period.