The professor-student relationship is all about sharing information. But there is such a thing as oversharing.
One professor has learned that lesson the hard way, thanks to a new photo making the rounds online. A redditor posted a photo of her professor’s email account, taken while the professor had his laptop hooked up to a projector screen in the front of the lecture hall, apparently unaware of the Pornhub.com account notification email sitting at the top of his inbox.
It’s embarrassing for sure, but should it be? According to Alexa.com, and online information website, Pornhub ranks as the 45th most trafficked website in the United States and is the 70th most popular website worldwide. And the popularity of online pornography is so pervasive, a recent change to Google’s image search algorithm stirred a great deal of online discussion. A casual search of the word “porn” on Twitter, Reddit, Yahoo Answers, and many other social sites reveals no shortage of users willing to admit their usage.
“I always think if no one watches porn how do all those porn bosses make all that kind of money?” asked Yahoo user Crocoduck.
Numerous studies have found that porn viewing is much more common than people are willing to admit in casual conversation, including a study from the U.K. where researchers struggled to even find any subjects who never watched porn. Other researchers have found people more reticent to admit to engaging in online gaming than porn viewing. Although Pornhub users commenting on Alexa.com had strong opinions on the site’s content, navigatibility and prices, none seemed to have an issue with privacy safeguards.
Still, cultural bugaboos exist when it comes to pornography. The Susan G. Komen breast cancer charity refused a donation from Pornhub earlier this year, objecting to the obscene nature of the site.
Efforts by the Daily Dot to contact Pornhub for information on privacy and security policies were not immediately returned Friday. However, one commenter who re-posted the unfortunate photo of the professor’s inbox had some simple advice: “Maybe next he’ll learn that only suckers pay for internet porn.”
Photo via Reddit