The world had the chance to gaze upon a total solar eclipse today, and Google is seeing a spike in “eyes hurt” searches as a result.
This year’s eclipse event saw large parts of the U.S. taking to the streets to enjoy a rare view of the sun’s shadow as it gradually made its way across the country. We (hopefully) don’t need to tell you that staring directly into the sun isn’t the greatest idea, but that hasn’t stopped thousands of Americans from apparently doing it with and, unfortunately, without protective glasses.
Those who spent a little too much time looking at the flaming ball of fire in the sky quickly took to the internet to find the source of their new eye pain, and Google Trends noticed (as spotted by Wall Street Journal SEO Editor Shalom Goodman on X/Twitter). Specifically, search terms like “eyes hurt,” “my eyes hurt,” and “why do my eyes hurt” saw a significant uptick around 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET. In case you haven’t been keeping up with the solar eclipse schedule, that’s just around the time the moon started to pass between the Earth and the sun. Related searches seemed to reach their peak at 12 p.m. PT / 3 p.m. ET.
Other search highlights in the U.S. include “can I look at the sun,” “solar eclipse pain,” and “solar eclipse no glasses.” X/Twitter users also joked about the eclipse's effects on their vision, as it didn't take "MY EYES" too long to start trending either.
Google Trends’ map data shows an even more comedic look into Americans’ search habits. Those in states like Maine, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, Arkansas, and Texas, for example, were where eye-related pain searches were seen more. As you might have guessed, these areas were right along the eclipse’s path.
The total solar eclipse of 2024 has come and gone, and it will be decades before the event sees the sun’s shadow cast over the U.S. Expect to see more eye injuries occur in America when the next eclipse happens on August 23, 2044.
Thumbnail credit: Joel Kowsky/NASA via Getty Images
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
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