WASHINGTON — When furloughed government workers suddenly have more free time than usual, what's there to do? Turns out some may be turning on porn.
Pornhub, the adult video platform, analyzed its website data when inquired by Mashable and found there's been an increase in traffic since the government shutdown began.
From Jan. 7-11, the third week of the government shutdown, there was an average daily traffic increase of 5.94 percent compared to two weeks in December prior to the shutdown.
The site saw a large spike during the early morning hours, especially from midnight to 5 a.m. After a mid-morning dip, people might have been delighted to log on during the afternoon.
Mashable notes correlation doesn't equal causation -- more people aren't necessarily watching porn because of the shutdown, and perhaps people are hanging out inside because of colder temperatures.
But the traffic bumps during the late night and early afternoons are similar to other events like winter storms, Pornhub says, which are times people could stay up later because there's no work the next day.
When Pornhub examined its Washington, D.C., traffic, it found an increase of about 6.32 percent.
Hmm. We don't judge.
►Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the 10 News app now.
Have a news tip? Email tips@wtsp.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.