Adult site Pornhub releases New Zealand statistics for 2017.
In an era where our every click, swipe and search can be recorded, one might wonder what from the myriad data we're racking up will be analysed and actually considered important by future humans.
What better way to examine what 2018 was all about than to take a deep dive into the porn subjects we most commonly searched for this year? Before you argue that 2018 should not be defined by "MILFs" and "Hentai", how about "Fortnite" and "Stormy Daniels"?
Pornhub, the world's biggest free porn provider, keeps a record of everything you search for, including how long you visit the website for and which adult performers are most popular, creating a plethora of data to draw justified conclusions from.
With an insight into our sexual preferences, things we probably don't even share with our closest friends, Pornhub can collectively help gather some valuable information.
Each year the website publishes the results which, as it turns out, make for a surprisingly accurate reflection of the big trends and issues of 2018.
While specific to New Zealand, "Maori", "Lesbian", "New Zealand" and "Samoan" were the most searched terms this year, here are some other topics you might be surprised to see (or may know all too well) have popped up as popular porn subjects.
A Google search should have sufficed, but clearly people wanted to see her at work. Perhaps it added to the legitimacy of the claim made about the US President.
Antonina Debogorska, in-house sexologist for the Lovely (a messaging app for couples), told the Telegraph, "What unexpectedly resonates with our erotic imagination and triggers sexual arousal might be things we are curious about, but reject in our daily 'socialised self.'
"What is erotic for many people is also often transgressive: breaking a taboo, boundaries or just going beyond ourselves. It's why sexual energy can be fueled with what is forbidden, inaccessible, dark or mysterious."
Fortnite
Full of vivid graphics, bright colours and costumes, it kind of makes sense that porn creators would try to cash in on the same sensory features.
Debogorska explains to the Telegraph: "Generally speaking, in terms of video games, we can observe a higher level of immersion. Gamers might get involved so much that it can become a major area of their creativity. It's where they have space, they can feel the impact and can explore their potential, vitality, passion. They devote that energy to the game, so it's where their sexual interest finds the perfect place to thrive."
4K
As the camera quality on our devices improves, so does the quality of porn. 4K is winning out over the poor quality footage traditionally seen in adult entertainment and increasingly the quality is more akin to a well made film.
Trans
One of the biggest conversations over the last couple of years, it's hardly surprising that there's a lot of interest in this category. The increased visibility of trans people seems to have enabled an empowering new space, and seems to be of interest to users of Pornhub.
Debogorska told the Telegraph trans porn has become so popular because: "I think people are curious about it. It might be also an aspiration to reveal our full potential with no gender limits."
It could boil down to an increasingly enlightened view on gender. Interestingly, porn featuring trans women who have male genitalia is extremely popular among men who identify as straight.
Photo / Pornhub
Tinder
No one should view scenarios from Tinder porn and expect this is how a real life date might play out: videos of young women, mostly quite wholesome, who go on a 'date' but actually cannot wait to get home for sex with a near stranger.
For the uninitiated, Bowsette is essentially animated erotica that features the cartoon characters from Super Mario.
In some ways, it's great because it avoids ethical dilemmas around the treament of porn actors. But it's also really very strange when you consider that you're watching characters from your childhood having sex with each other.
Then again, these days there seems to be a porn category for everything, so in the great scheme of things it's probably relatively normal.
