Black and Blue, or While and Gold? It’s the question that appears to have captivated the ever-so-brief attention span of the online world. The more philosophical are asking again the age-old questions; what is the nature of reality and perception?…and, can we ever know for certain what we think we know? Yes I’m talking about #TheDress. And if you haven’t been paying attention, suffice it to say that the “twitterverse” has been embroiled in a heated debate about the real color of a dress that was worn to a wedding in Ireland. Here’s just one of the many tweets having a bit of fun with the whole thing.
Well, that was before the llamas got loose in Arizona…which was just briefly before Leonard Nimoy passed away. We are an easily distracted lot, humanity. One might argue that we need a distraction every now and then to give us relief from the pressure and demands of real life.
But seriously, is this what we’ve come to expect from our media? Was there nothing important going on in the world at the end of last week? Oh yeah, there was. “Jihadi John” was identified as a college grad from West London; Net neutrality was adopted by the FCC (thanks, perhaps, to John Oliver); and a Russian politician, and foe of Putin, was executed on a city street.
But perhaps there is an explanation. According to this article by Mel Robbins at CNN, “the emotions that make a story go ‘viral’ are not fear and anger — they are awe, laughter and amusement.” Well, there you go. I feel just a little better now about #TheDress and #LlamaDrama.
Thinking back to when #TheDress was a viral, trending topic across twitter, I can’t help but laugh at how obsessed the entire internet was for 15 minutes— over the color of a DRESS. No matter where you looked online (or even in the check-out line at your local grocery store), you would see the story plastered across every magazine or newspaper headline. The drama that unfolded over this seemingly trivial debate opened opportunities for citizen journalists across the world to put in their two-cents on the subject. The fact that the entire world seemed to stop and stare while other major issues continued to take place around us is a perfect illustration as to how competitive the journalism industry is in this day and age, and helps paint a vivid picture of our generations values, fears, and interests. If you don’t have an article written 7 seconds before something even happens, you’re already too many steps behind. Who will always be there to pick up that slack and probably steal your thunder? Someone with a twitter account and a hell of a lot less experience than you. That’s the reality of the cutthroat industry that is journalism in an era where anybody can fake credibility, build a substantial following, and attempt to do the job of veteran journalists who have established a stable career around being the best of the best. Paper can only move so fast.