Rarely is it possible to capture the mood of the web-browsing populace with this accuracy. The graph above shows traffic hour-by-hour to our Life and Style pages for the past four days. That's where we tend to keep our suggestions for Christmas gifts, such as our gallery of last-minute presents, part of our full Christmas gift guide.
So what the graph shows, hour by hour, is the rising panic as people on the web realise that they still haven't bought that special treat for a loved one (and yes, I still have one to buy too). See how blase they are earlier in the week. Then yesterday we can quite clearly discern a collective frisson of anxiety. And that surge today? That's the English speaking world saying "Cripes".
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