It's a general rule of thumb that when there's a big cultural moment, like a movie release or a popular event, that a porn will exist for it. Or, at least, people will search for whatever porn might be tied to the next big cultural phenomenon.
But there's an exception to every rule, and the solar eclipse is that exception. Instead of a bump in searches on porn websites looking for the best solar eclipse-related adult entertainment, people actually stopped watching porn long enough to go outside and view the rare celestial event at totality (or as close as they could get).
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Porn site xHamster told Mashable that they saw a huge drop in traffic all over the country around and during the moments when the moon completely blocked the sun. Traffic from the cities in the path of totality — like Nashville, Tennessee and Portland, Oregon — dropped as much as 50%, the site said. But even cities that only got to see a partial eclipse saw dramatic drops in xHamster traffic.
New York and Los Angeles, which both had about a 70% partial eclipse, saw a 15% drop in traffic. But it didn't last long. According to xHamster's data, people only logged off for a few hours — long enough to see the moon eclipse the sun. And afterward, traffic to the website actually soared. In the hour after the eclipse, traffic to xHamster coming from Portland jumped 85%.
"It just goes to show that porn stars can never compete with real stars," Alex Hawkins, xHamster's vice president, said in a statement. "Of course, you won’t burn your eyes looking at ours."
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