Google has recorded a spike in searches from people worried that looking at the sun during the eclipse damaged their eyes.
Google Trends data shows key phrases including “my eyes hurt” and “I looked at the sun” spiked just before 8pm on August 21 across the United States.
Remember, safety first kids. Never look directly at an eclipse. Always use a ? projector. #SolarEclipse2017 pic.twitter.com/F4vSblUdDk
— West St. Paul Police (@WestStPaulPD) August 21, 2017
Yet even US President Donald Trump ignored the warning, choosing to look skywards without any protection, as he first stepped outside at the White House with his wife Melania. The couple both went on to wear eclipse glasses.
In addition, many people were wondering if their headache had been caused by viewing the eclipse. Google Trends again recorded a spike just before 8pm.
i looked at the sun thinking i would see the solar eclipse and now i have a headache
— happy mikey (@mikeybarone) August 21, 2017
Is anybody else experiencing a headache after watching the eclipse? Seriously my head has been killing me ever since.???
— ♠iCYONYX♠ (@IcyOnyx) August 21, 2017
Okay the #eclipse was very magical but also I’m now paranoid about my headache am I blind
— Brenna (@brennasherrill) August 21, 2017
In the run-up to August 21, searching for information about the eclipse followed a pattern. The interest was higher in areas where there would be a total eclipse rather than partial.
As #Eclipse2017 gets underway on the west coast, check out how Twitter conversation (adj.) aligns with its path of totality over the US pic.twitter.com/t5aTUKwfWG
— Twitter Data (@TwitterData) August 21, 2017
