Idle hands make for thirsty tweets.
New data suggests that sexting has skyrocketed amid widespread stay-at-home orders put in place during the coronavirus pandemic.
Tweets with terms like “nudes” and “dick pics” appearing alongside “coronavirus” jumped 384% from the beginning of March to April, according to data from Khoros, a private social media management firm.
Most states didn’t institute lockdowns until about mid-March, but the size of the increase in the tweets still hints at rise in sexting, according to Forbes.
Use of the peach and eggplant emojis, stand-ins for female and male genitalia, respectively, also increased, with the fruit seeing a 46 percent spike.
Self-isolation and quarantine can lead to more sexually aggressive behavior on social media as a way to relieve stress, Dr. Helen Fisher, a research fellow at the Kinsey Institute and Match.com’s scientific advisor told Forbes.
“The truth is that quarantine adds stress,” Fisher said. “Stress tends to trigger the ‘fight or flight’ response. This elevates testosterone in both men and women, and elevated testosterone then triggers the production of norepinephrine and epinephrine — natural stimulants that produce energy, focus, motivation and sexual arousal.”
Expressing sexual desires online can lead to a sense of safety and “freedom,” especially when holed up at home, Fisher said.
“It’s in some ways safer to express one’s sexuality on the internet. We can’t meet in person. This gives people a sense of freedom. They can’t go any further than simply expressing their feelings. They don’t have to ‘follow through’ by actually meeting and having sex,” she said.
“Men and women now have time to express their sexuality, as so many of their other daily habits, patterns and pressures are now on hold.”
Once lockdowns are lifted, Fisher predicted that sexting will cool down.
“The expression of sexual desires on the internet will no longer be innocuous, once we can again meet in person,” she said. ““We will get back to the time constraints of working and times with family and friends.”
