About 17 or 18 years ago when my oldest was 5 or 6, she asked me a question and I responded, “I don’t know?” So, she walked into our office and went to our desktop computer and asked Google. She didn’t think twice about it, she just went to find the answer on the search engine that became a verb: ‘Have a question? Just Google it.’

But shortly after that I started to learn that for some things my network was better than Google:

Now social media sites are the new Google, articles like this one, ‘Many Gen Zers don’t use Google. Here’s why they prefer to search on TikTok and Instagram,’ explain that for many searches the younger generation are bypassing Google and going directly to TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and even Pinterest to look for things that older folks would Google.

Looking for makeup tips? TikTok or Instagram. Looking for help changing your car’s turn signal light? YouTube. There are many reasons to trust either your network or people using appropriate tags that you search on social media more than some website that has maximized its SEO and finds itself at the top of a Google search… with little reference to what you are actually searching for.

It’s now an era where a Google search is just one of many search tools that might be used to answer questions you might have. Social networks and platforms are taking us on a journey beyond Google.