Everyone Should Play Monopoly - 10/27

Facebook, Amazon, and Google. What comes to your mind when I say the names of these three companies? They are all company giants that play a large role in many peoples' everyday lives. We get our information from Google, we socialize with our friends on Facebook, and we've all been accused of looking on Amazon at 2 in the morning for things we don't need. These companies have successfully done what many others have done in the past and created a monopoly on their specific market (I know the article doesn't explicitly recognize Facebook as a monopoly, but when you've got everyone ranging from 13 year olds to my grandmother on there, it might as well be a monopoly. While I agree with this article that the giants of those three companies shouldn't be doing what they're doing (controlling the content we see, remove books just to receive more money from a company, or using an ambiguous algorithm to determine what sites get seen), they have the right to do all of those things. Why? Because they're a monopoly.

We gave them right to do whatever they desired when we allowed the corner market. You may be able to use alternative sites and convince yourself that you're making difference, but nothing would change. This isn't the first, nor will it be the last, time that a company has used the fact that it was a monopoly for their own gain. De Beers had a monopoly on the diamond game for twenty years and Crayola will probably be forever associated with crayons. That's just what monopolies do, and using Microsoft's Bing won't change that, we can only wait it out until the next new thing monopolizes the market. It's just the way it is.

Me, Myself, and Buzzfeed - 10/25

While it came as no surprise when I read the article claiming that Buzzfeed recorded the information from their online surveys (because who isn't data-mining these days), I was still little jarred. I mean this is Buzzfeed, their quirky and funny videos are what get me through the day, so they can't be hoarding all of this information about individual users like a kid trying to collect Pokemon. Right? Right?? Well it turns out they can and do, and while I do firmly believe that Buzzfeed doesn't have any ill intentions regarding all of this data, we should still recognize that this is a problem. What would happen if someone were to, after reading this article, hack into Buzzfeed and steal all of the information they've obtained from all of its survey members, or if a disgruntled employee were to take all of this information and decided to sell it. That could have major implications to all of those people, especially since they record "lots of information" about the people who fill out those surveys.

I would maybe understand if Buzzfeed were doing something with this information, but it seems like now they're just sitting on this huge pile of data and will continue to do so until something goes wrong. And while it may seem like mundane information, some of the information they have could lead to person's real identity, where they live, where they work, etc. I do hope Buzzfeed has the sense to delete some or all of this information before it's too late. I can live without knowing which Sex and City character I am in exchange for keeping necessary personal information off of Buzzfeeds servers. But full disclosure, I took the survey before I read this article and I'm a total Carrie.

So I'm guessing I should be depressed? - 10/20

"Will Facebook Make You Sad? Depends How You Use It" blatantly states that there is a link between one's sadness and exactly how they use Facebook. I'm personally not a big fan of social media, and I say this knowing that may be blasphemy to others in my major, but I haven't nor will I ever be a fan of any type of social media. However, out of all the Twitters and Instagrams and Myspaces, Facebook is the site I use most often. And, because of my dislike of social media, I rarely ever post anything. My wall is literally made up of tagged photos and memes about college, but I haven't actively posted anything since High School. So, why am I not sad? Why doesn't my smile turn upside down I open my cell phone and scroll through the various pictures and statuses that my friends choose to share with the world? I'll tell you, because the study is BS. 

Now I don't say that lightly, in fact, I fully understand that seeing the carefully crafted status of someone you know explaining an interesting encounter they had while you sit from the comfort of your own bed and proceed to start episode four of a Netflix series that you just started today may dampen someone's spirits. But to put that entirely on Facebook would be irresponsible. As one of those passive Facebook users, I can definitely say it isn't Facebook that's making you sad, it's your life. Although, it shouldn't, because all those passive users need to realize is that the people on their friend's list only put THE BEST part of their lives on Facebook and still have shitty days like the rest of us, and that'll solve all of their self-esteem problems they may have about their lives. 

Millennials FTW - 10/18

Deciding what to write about was kind of a struggle for me, but then I read the article about Millennials being willing to take a significant pay cut for a job they wanted and I knew that had to be the one I choose. First I must say, seeing articles like that make me proud to be a millennial. We're not like the baby boomers or gen x's who take jobs just so they can pay the bills. We're searching for a purpose, we're trying to find meaning in this crazy little thing called life and we're not afraid to take a pay cut to do it. A lot of people look down on millennials as needing hand outs or being too sensitive, but that's not true. es, we are more vocal about problems and injustices going on in the world. Yes, a lot of us can't get our heads out of the fascinating little pieces of technology in our pockets. Yes, we might need a little extra help so we can go to graduate, law, or medical school. But that doesn't make us helpless, and it certainly doesn't make us any less of a generation than any others that have come before. This article proves that fact, and when I read articles like that, I know that millennials are gonna change the world, and we'll all LOL at the look of the faces of all the older generations that looked down on us.

Additionally, when I read the article about instant gratification, I couldn't help but think about millennials once again; how we're criticized for not being patient because everything has been handed to us our entire lives. Although, no one dares to look at the facts and see that, back then, the economy was worse off and jobs were a lot easier to come by. But I digress, no we might not have the patient to wait for our internet to load, but we have patience for the things that matter. Why else would nearly half of us be okay with taking a job with less pay simply because we'd feel like a purpose at the new one? Because we know changing the world takes the time, and we're willing to put in the work.

The Clothes Behind the Man

For 9/29

I found the article about enclothed cognition very interesting because it immediately flashed me back to high school. I attended a magnet school that specialized in health careers and therefore, in lieu of a uniform, we were all given the option to wear medical scrubs every day to class. Now back then, I had no idea of the possible effects of wearing those clothes to school day in and day out.
After reading this article, I'm very curious as to how other clothes with symbolic meaning would affect those wearing it; would wearing a police officer's uniform make you more protective, or a firefighter's uniform make you more prone to putting yourself in danger. Also, who's to say that wearing the white robe and believing that it was a painter's robe didn't enhance the creativity within those wearing it. And why even limit it to specific professions? Would you not be more inclined to notice ancient hematological artifacts if you were dressed as Indiana Jones, or make startling deductions were you wearing Sherlock Holmes's garbs.
Although these examples may not necessarily be in line with the clothes affecting one's cognitive processes, and might be more focused on behavior, but it is one's cognitive process that results in behavior. And regardless, I believe the overall cause is the same. Because we are aware that our "clothing affects how other people perceive us", when we dress in a way that we know will elicit a specific view about us, and it is not in line with how we view ourselves, then our mind will essentially "pick up the slack" and make us slightly more like whatever characteristics are symbolically associated with the clothing.