Blogs and Music: Measure of a Nation's Happiness?
Internet, blogs, Web journals, Facebook -- all of these things have given researchers, psychologists and online buddies an unprecedented glimpse into our personal lives. Suddenly, an influx of gadgets designed to communicate our every thought and move are prevalent, and behavior scientists are having a field day.
The New York Times wrote on Wednesday about a paper that is being released by a pair of statisticians that have begun looking at user-created content -- blogs, lyrics, thought-sharing sites -- to suss out patterns. The duo, Professors Peter Dodds and Christopher Danforth at the University of Vermont, have hypothesized that certain words appear during difficult times, like 'lonely' on Valentine's Day or generally sad sentiments during the death of Michael Jackson. Similarly, the two looked at lyrics over the past few decades. They noted a downturn in mood in the late '70s, reflected by negative lyrical imagery in early metal and punk. Understandably, anger flourished again with bands like Staind and My Chemical Romance in the early '00s.
What is interesting about this new way of looking at happiness is that researchers are beginning to think about less traditional factors, like music choices or blogs, to quantize personal mood. Not only is the Web a great tool, but the daily technology we interact with hourly, even constantly, has allowed psychologists to receive constant (and possibly more constantly honest) data. When we monitor our every choice, using Facebook or jotting it down on Livejournal, we also monitor our moods, and then, invariably, the links between moods and choices become clear.
Sounds great, except for one thing. Turning to the old statistics conundrum, those who feel the strongest on a subject tend to be the most vocal, dubbed 'self-selectors' -- like an individual writing a negative review of a restaurant because of a bad experience, or a reader filling out a blog's comments section because of an extreme opinion. The Internet is chock full of people who finally have an outlet to air their vehement thoughts.
Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, is that, while 10-percent of Americans update their statuses online (and probably their Twitter, and might have a blog or two), the median age for social networking is in the 20s. While it's fantastic that young, computer-obsessed youth in Middle America have finally found an outlet to express themselves, it might not reflect, say, the nine million people who live in New York City, or the elderly community in Florida, or the baby boomer population in California.
Also, it's important to note that this trend can only be adequately followed in the last decade or so. The New York Times points out that the darkest year for Americans to date is 2003, when Darkthrone's "Hate Them" album appeared. However, that's also when 50 Cent's "Get Rich or Die Tryin" was the best-selling album of the year, and 50 proudly proclaimed, "We gon' party like its yer birthday..." So, University of Vermont, congrats on the experimental research... but there is still a long way to go. [From: NYTimes.com]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
david said 10:38AM on 8-07-2009
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