Thanks to the age of the Internet, young folks discovering porn for the first time are no longer limited to whatever they happened to find stashed away in a shoe box in their parents' closet—so with all these options available, does the kind of porn we like change over time? Pornhub and Vocativ teamed up on a report that looks at how what we search for shifts depending on what age group we belong to — and guess what? It turns out that what turns us on might not be totally unrelated to how old we are. I can't say that I'm surprised, but the results are interesting none the less.
First, some demographic info: Pornhub gathered their data from their analytics software—that is, none of it comes from Pornhub user accounts — and divided into six age groups: 18 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54. 55 to 64, and 65 and over. The average Pornhub user is just over 35 years old, while the median age is just under 30. The average Pornhub-using dude is 36, and the average lady is 34. A whopping 30 percent of users fall in the 18 to 24 age group; additionally, there are five percent more women in that particular group than there are in any of the others.
Once they had their age groups in mind, it was time to get to work. Here are what I find to be some of the more interesting takeaways from the data analysis; head on over to Pornhub and Vocativ for more.
The Search Terms:
Unsurprisingly, each of the six age groups had a slightly different set of search terms that make up the top five. What is somewhat surprising, though, is how little they change between the ages of 18 and 45 — and how drastically they change after 45. “Lesbian, “Milf,” “Teen,” and “Step Mom” take up four of the five slots for each of the first five age groups; furthermore, “Step Mom” landed in the top slot for the 25 to 34, 35 to 44, and 45 to 54 age groups. But then, in both 55 to 64 and 65 and over, suddenly “Massage” makes a grand entrance. Pornhub theorizes that its increase in popularity with age might “[coincide] with increased likeliness of joint-related aches and pains.” Older folks also seem to be especially interested in “Cartoon” and “Japanese,” so, y'know… there's that.
The People:
Viewers 55 and under seem to be more interested in porn stars than anyone older than that; furthermore, which porn stars are popular for which age group is incredibly indicative of each generation. People between the ages of 18 and 34, for example, are super interested in Rachel Starr, Sunny Leone, Asa Kira, and Sasha Grey — by which I mean that they're 1,041, 909, 899, and 649 percent more likely to search for them than any other age group, respectively. This makes sense, given that most of these gals are the folks people under the age of 34 cut their porn teeth on, so to speak.
Meanwhile, those between the ages of 35 and 54 were 822 percent more likely to search for Traci Lords and 29 percent more likely to search for Jenna Jameson. Side note: Somewhat hilariously, my first introduction to Traci Lords was via the Highlander television show that aired in the '90s (it is terrible and I love it. Don't judge). She showed up in an episode in the second season, and it was only later that I realized why so many people thought that was such a big deal. The more you know, right?
And as for the older age groups? They weren't any more likely to search for any particular porn stars than any other groups. Fair enough.
The Devices:
Is it weird that I find what devices on which everyone is viewing their porn more interesting than the actual search terms? I'm not kidding — if ever there was a clear representation of generational divides, this is it. Basically, the younger the age group, the more likely they are to be viewing porn on their phones; the older they are, the more likely they are to be viewing it on desktops. Not going to lie: I have to wonder whether the propensity of younger people to watch porn on their phones has anything to do with the fact that they're often A) sharing a space or B) hiding it from their parents; after all, 64 percent of 18-to-24-year-olds are getting off to the phones. But you know what's really interesting? The older people are, the more likely they are to be using a tablet. A whopping 67 percent of folks in the 65 and over group watch porn on tablets. You go, technologically inclined elders.
Check out the full report on Pornhub at Vocativ.
Images: Fotolia; Giphy (3)
