Facebook is controlling our emotions!

There's all this hoopla about a recent study that revealed how Facebook conducted a social experiment on unwitting people. Supposedly they chose a group of users and controlled the tone of the items that showed up on their feed. Those who got mostly negative stories reported feeling bad after a while, while those who got the positive stories were either as happy or happier afterwards.

First of all, WELL DUH. Did we really need a study to tell us this? That's why there's the unfollow button, everyone. Use it! This is seriously one of the best updates Facebook has introduced, ever. It lets you control the content of your feed while still keeping those all-important superficial connections alive. Because we don't want to hurt the feelings of those people that we don't really care about in real life.

Another life-changing Facebook update? The "I don't want to see this story" option. Again, use it! It's a gift from the gods! If Facebook tries to shove an assy suggested post down your throat, shove it right back.

And are we really surprised that Facebook would do this? We practically have to sign our souls away the moment we set up an account. Look at how they ruined Instagram! Everybody knows that Facebook is the apocalypse and Mark Zuckerberg is the devil.

Today's Spotify Playlist

Spotified

I have been living under a rock.


I'd been reading about Spotify playlists for a while now, but since they mostly came up on Twitter, and I'm too lazy to click links there, I remained blissfully unaware of its magic.


A few years ago I was still active on Facebook, mostly because of a music app that allowed me to discover new music. (I just wish I remembered its name.) Thanks to that app, I was introduced to the genius of Ray Lamontagne and Paolo Nutini, among others. But for some reason the app got discontinued and I lost my new music fix. Pandora wasn't an option because we don't get it here.


Enter Spotify! Thanks to my revived Facebooking, I saw links to an actual Spotify app, and now I'm addicted. I mean, with playlists like this, who wouldn't be? The 90s is my jam!

Spotify has several ready-made playlists for such categories as mood, workout, party and chill. And they regularly publish new playlists such as the recent "art" (that's right, for unleashing your creativity). You have options to favorite songs so you can create your own playlists too. You can also choose to upgrade to the paid app, but so far the only benefit I've seen is unlimited skips on songs. It's not really worth it.

I immediately discovered a new song to like - Coldplay's "A Sky Full Of Stars". Which in itself is a miracle because I never thought I'd like any of their songs again (that's another story and another blog post). See the magic of Spotify? It makes you like songs of artists you swore you'd hate forever!


But mostly because there's always magic in discovering new music - whether it's recently released or just something you've never heard before. It's empowering even, because you know you don't have to be stuck with autotuned madness on Top 40 radio or on MTV (the few times they still play music).


I'm going to go lose myself in the music now.



(Spotify is availabe on the iTunes app store and Google Play store.)