Pornhub traffic was a rollercoaster on Election Day, much like our emotions
This Election Day (Week?) was unlike any other — but of course people still took the time to look at porn.
As the votes are still trickling in, mega tube site Pornhub released their 2020 Election Day Insights all about what went down on the site on November 3.
Pornhub compared overall traffic levels on Election Day to an average day on the site. Times were adjusted for each state due to time zones and when polling closed.
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Pornhub traffic took a significant dip during prime time, when Americans were likely glued to their news channel of choice waiting for results. The 11 percent dip on this year's election night is actually less than half of the deepest plunge the site saw four years ago. On 2016's election night, there was a 23 percent drop in traffic compared to a usual day.
This time around, by about 1 a.m. it seems that people gave up on deciding who won and decided to masturbate instead. Traffic went up 14 percent compared to a usual day. We all cope in our own ways....
The biggest primetime dip came from states with Republican governors versus Democratic:
Traffic in Democrat-run states spiked higher in the morning on Election Day, up 18 percent around 6 a.m. Republican-run, however, states spiked in the wee hours of the following day, up 16 percent at 3 a.m. Wednesday.
Pornhub even broke it down by further to the states that everyone has their eyes on now: Swing states.
Wisconsin had the biggest spike the morning of Election Day (up 22 percent), but it trailed behind Arizona the morning after the election — with Arizona up 31 percent and Wisconsin up just 23 percent. Arizona also happened to take the biggest dip at midnight, with 21 percent less traffic than usual. Pornhub visits were actually down in both Florida and North Carolina when the day began, but all swing states oscillated throughout — much like our emotions.
For more insights, head over to Pornhub's blog.
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Anna Iovine is the associate editor of features at Mashable. Previously, as the sex and relationships reporter, she covered topics ranging from dating apps to pelvic pain. Before Mashable, Anna was a social editor at VICE and freelanced for publications such as Slate and the Columbia Journalism Review. Follow her on Bluesky.
