Oct 25, 2020 22:00:00

How was Pornhub, the world's largest adult site, influenced by the 2020 presidential election debate?

by

Prachatai

The United States presidential election debate is a public debate in which official candidates from the two major political parties, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, engage in a single combat battle. The presidential debate is basically positioned as the 'last direct confrontation' for the presidential election, and is said to have a great influence on the election results. Pornhub, the world's largest adult site, has released an analysis based on its big data about the influence of such a presidential debate.

Trump vs Biden 2020 Presidential Debate – Pornhub Insights
https://www.pornhub.com/insights/2020-presidential-debate

On the night of September 29, 2020 local time, incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden held their first presidential debate on the 2020 United States presidential election . The opinions developed by both candidates during this debate on measures against new coronavirus infections, economic policies, and racial discrimination issues are explained in detail below.

1st TV discussion Trump and Biden candidates' first direct confrontation | US presidential election 2020 | NHK NEWS WEB
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/presidential-election_2020/report/situation/situation_23.html

The Pornhub report is an analysis of the impact of the first round of discussions on September 29, 2020 on Pornhub traffic. According to reports, traffic flowing from the United States to Pornhub recorded -18.5% of normal traffic during the first round of debate. After the debate, traffic recovered rapidly, reaching + 5.2% of normal time at 23:00 EST.

These traffic highlights the high interest of the American people in the first round of debate. However, Pornhub pointed out that 'the reaction was different in each state' as an interesting point. Michigan and Pennsylvania reported that traffic declined by more than 20% during the first round of debate, while traffic declines in New Mexico and Virginia were only around 10%. Overall, traffic declines were low in the west and south, but high in the north and east.

Pornhub makes a comparison of the rate of decline in each state against the major political parties in that state. This comparison found that traffic decline was particularly high in the

Swing State , where Republican and Democratic approval ratings are competing. Below is a bar chart image of the rate of decrease in traffic by state. Fierce battle states are marked with a yellow circle, Republican-dominated states are marked with a red circle, and Democrat-dominated states are marked with a blue circle. The top decline rates are all fierce battle states from 1st to 4th. It is clear that Republican-dominated states had lower overall traffic declines and relatively less attention to the debate.

Next is a graph of traffic recovery after the debate. After the debate, traffic from Democratic-dominated states increased significantly, with a staggering 15.1% increase in Connecticut, where Democratic support is the mainstream. Pornhub wrote about this: 'Connecticut seems to have been the most excited after the debate.' In contrast, Republican-dominated states have had a modest recovery in traffic after the debate, and Kansas has had 2.6% less traffic than usual.

The American people are not the only ones interested in the US presidential debate. According to a Pornhub survey, during the first round of discussions, traffic from Italy fell 18%, Spain fell 13%, Taiwan fell 11%, Canada fell 10%, Paraguay fell 9%, and Portugal fell. It was down 8%, France down 6%, Britain down 5% and Puerto Rico down 4%. The 2020 US presidential election, which attracts the world's attention, will be held on November 4, 2020 in Japan time.