In elementary school, it was dashing to sport the roller backpack look even if there was only a Spacemaker pencil box and some dried Elmer’s glue inside. Sometime during that period, telling other people to spell “icup” was pretty trendy, too. For a society that defines itself by opportunity and a generation that supposedly draws from originality, it seems the social phenomenon that connects us is actually come-and-go fads.
Though we boast that the members of our society enjoy the freedom to express their minds, the majority do not embrace it. Be it the newest fad, fashion trend, or internet meme, we engage in it because well… everyone else is. Anyone not keeping up would be behind the times and out of the fast paced social loop.
Take for instance a recent Youtube vogue: witty comments about the number of people disliking a video. Sure, the comments on the viral video were funny the first time when 316 people didn’t hide their kids or wives when the Bed Intruder climbed through their windows and snatched people up. During the struggle, the victims accidentally pressed the dislike button.
Other comments about the number of people missing the like button are all over Youtube as well. As shown by the number of green thumbs of approval, these supposedly humorous were well-accepted. But, the comments about the mis-clicks have since started to ebb away. I think so, at least. I may be out of the loop. (See right for my preemptive emotion.)
Even politics are included in the mob mentality. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign was in many ways a bell drawing millions of Pavlov’s dogs. The Howard Stern show spotlighted a case where people were asked how they felt about Obama’s anti-stem cell research stance. Interestingly, the supporters answered away while not knowing that Obama is actually for stem cell research. They came to his side without regard for the truth. After all, the caveman that wanders away from the tribe is more vulnerable to saber tooth attacks.
Similarly, whether or not we are the same personality IRL and online is up to how others view the situation. Just think for a moment that you are the sole person in society that uses “fail” to describe a misgauged ninja fart that was actually a rather explosive one during silent read. You would in fact, be an “epic phail”.
Now compare that to what we already know is happening around us In our society, it’s perfectly acceptable to throw in some internet slang like “lols” and “troll”. The only difference between the two scenarios is who else is doing it. No matter how you look at it, we all take comfort in bandwagons.
Who else is rooting for Miami this year?
Diagram 1: Q.Q
This poor nose is out of both loops.
