trinitystclair/miakhalifa/InstagramAs the climax of 2018 comes ever closer and the curtains are about to be called on another year, it’s time to take stock of the coming’s and going’s for Pornhub.
When asked about your 2018, you might remark on a successful fitness regime followed or a newfound love of cross-stitch. Perhaps you learned a language, got a new job, or went on the trip of a lifetime.
The folk over at Pornhub are mighty proud of their year too, having fulfilled their duty of facilitating all the moments of masturbation you probably won’t be mentioning in your Instagram Top Nine caption… Unless you’re Kanye on Kimmel.
So much so, they’ve published their bi-annual six month review to dish the dirt on the globe’s habits.
…And what a 365-day-long romp it’s been. Between political divisions, racial tensions, and a whole lot of trolling, it’s no wonder so many have retreated to their happy place in front of a laptop screen.
There were over 33.5 billion visits to the site in 2018 year, which is five billion more visits than 2017. That’s an average of 92 million visitors every single day.
PornhubAll those visitors entered a lot of searches too, with more than 30 billion specific requests made. It’s equivalent to 1,000 searches per second.
The increase of search terms including people of colour and members of the LGBT+ community might be a reflection on an ever-diversifying industry?
Either that or it’s just a way of proving the fetishisation of certain societal groups. But who am I to judge?
One thing is for certain: A lot of people enjoyed Fornite and Overwatch in more ways than the games’ creators intended.
The specific search terms were probably needed, to be fair, to trawl through the 4.8 million new videos which were added to Pornhub by pros and amateurs alike across the planet, adding up to more than a million hours of new content.
In other words, Pornhub say:
If you were to start watching 2018’s videos after the Wright brother’s first flight in 1903, you would still be watching them today 115 years later!
Well, true to the Wright Brothers, build it and they will come. And with a new year came great innovation and imagination in the populace’s porn-watching preferences.
There were even some searches which proved quite topical. Who says you can’t have a brain and a libido, hey?
Stormy Daniels made headlines throughout the year after suing President Donald Trump and his personal lawyer Michael Cohen in a claim stating a previous non-disclosure agreement regarding a sexual relationship with Trump was invalid.
After notably comparing the President’s penis to Toad from Super Mario Bros. she became the most important search on Pornhub, which they say ‘defined’ the year that was.
PornhubStormy topped the list of most searched for porn stars, closely followed by the people’s favourite, Mia Khalifa.
Between Daniels whipping up a storm on Pornhub, people looking to the Tinder app to make human connection, and Fortnite, the online battle royale, it’s a wonder anyone had time to do anything in real time.
Here’s hoping you all have a productive 2019.
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A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.