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The Dress Phenomenon

The day people wanted to gauge their eyes out over a dress...

Mar 02, 2015

On Thursday, February 26th, the internet blew up . And it was not due to the news net neutrality (which did pass and now internet will be treated as a utility, yay!), or a celebrity causing havoc at an awards show (hey Kanye). It was because of a stupid dress. Well, after at least 100 relationships were terminated and 400 friendships put at serious risk, not to mention the whole United States' sanity as a population, the "debate" over "blue and black or gold and white" was resolved with one simple thing- photo editing. The photo was just taken in poor lighting, and when it was boosted to its proper temperature or what have you, the whole world saw that this mysterious and demonic dress was in fact blue and black.

It is amazing how so many people could see such two different things from one picture. What is even more amazing is how over the span of a few hours, people all over the United States were debating this one, frankly hideous, dress. Some sororities had an official tally going, I myself received texts from at least 7 different people regarding the dress, which ensued in approximately 2 hours of arguing and investigating. The magical (or demonic) dress spread like wildfire, starting allegedly on Facebook, then spread through tumblr, gained momentum through a buzzed poll, then twitter, instagram, and other social media platforms until it was not just a new popular meme but America's most-talked "issue" of the day. Celebrities weighed in on the "issue", causing even more of an uproar. Taylor Swift declared it black and blue while also questioning her own sanity. Mindy Kaling aggressively argued with other stars over memes developing from the dress. Oscar winner Julianne Moore even joined the fight over her "black" oscar. The dress debate had gone nuclear, and for a few hours was on almost everyone's mind. A look at one's twitter or instagram or Facebook feed can prove that. Suddenly, somehow, everyone had become aware of this one dress.

This might sound crazy, but although this was such a frivolous and ridiculous event, and despite it causing some to slip into madness and argue with their closest friends, this poorly lit photograph of a stupid ugly dress miraculously held a whole nation captive. That is the power of the internet. It got thousands of people all over the country discussing the same thing, and in some ways that's almost as mind blowing as the dress itself.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.

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