The Dress

I'm going to talk about the dress. The dress that has divided celebrities and politicians. The dress that local news stations have broadcast like their mascot. Yes, the dress that some say is ugly, some say is blue and black and others says white and gold. The dress, the dress, the dress.

Why did this -- as my friend Tyler's mom would say -- damn dress make national headlines anyways?

The answer is simple. Oddity makes something newsworthy. The dress, we can agree, is odd. Whereas most optical illusions that show multiple colors and images in the same image, the dress divides us. It's nearly difficult or impossible for someone to see the other set of colors. People are captivated by the extraordinary.

The dress afflicted the internet Friday with a viral voracity. The image appeared on Tumblr in a remote Scottish island, and quickly blew up Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Buzzfeed, any news station not preoccupied with snow, and cable networks. It became the talk of the town. My parents were even calling me asking me about the dress. Yes, my parents.

A lot of people were annoyed about the seemingly endless conversation about the dress. (Which I'm aware my meta-commentary is contributing) A lot were fascinated and captivated. But what I find most interesting about viral content is that it connects humanity. Globalization is most visible through viral episodes, like the Alex from Targets, that for a moment catch the world's attention. My friends in London were even tweeting about the dress.

Jorge Feb 27

I couldn´t give a shit about this dress anymore

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Yes, across the Atlantic, people were annoyed about the dress. And although it may be a stretch, maybe--just maybe--viral content could show people that although we may look different, speak different languages, and worship differently, when you get down to it, we're all captivated by #TheDress.

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