Texting: an update on its effects

We raised the effects of truncated communication in our April 29th post The language of though: how will it evolve?

Here's some encouraging and some not so good news.

Let's start with the good. Findings from a study of Tweens 10-12 years old in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology (Vol. 27, Number 1) seem to suggest that texting aids literacy rather than damaging it. The results indicated that the increased exposure to print, in any form, led to greater literacy with those using most text'isms being more literate.

Now the not so good news.

The rise in texting might be causing a shift in the way adolescents develop. According to Sherry Turkle at the Initiative on Technology and Self at MIT "Among the jobs of adolescence are to separate from your parents, and to find the peace and quiet to become the person you decide you want to be. Texting hits directly at both those jobs.”

American teenagers sent and received an average of 2,272 text messages per month in Q4 2008, according to the Nielsen Company — almost 80 messages a day, more than double the average of a year earlier.

Michael Hausauer, a psychotherapist in Oakland, Calif., said teenagers had a “terrific interest in knowing what’s going on in the lives of their peers, coupled with a terrific anxiety about being out of the loop.” For that reason, he said, the rapid rise in texting has potential for great benefit and great harm. Read the full NYT here: Texting may be taking its Toll

Although the developments are too recent to have conclusive data on health effects, we'll certainly be watching this space with interest.

Success takes work for geniuses, why not us?

The appetite for 'Getting Rich Quick' is nothing new in American society. Whether reflected through Ponzi-type schemes or the popularity of lotteries, it a dynamic that exists alongside a puritanical momentum in the cultural fabric of this country.

Open Fridge Door thinks a 'short-cut' mentality has two companions, the 'Get-Success Quick' and Get-Expertise-Quick' trends. (These tendencies are far more prevalent than just among the Generation Y cohort, whose sense of entitled advance in the work-place has been well documented through syndicated research and won't be expounded upon here). People are inclined to inflate their career capabilities and accomplishments because doing so make them appear more desirable candidates and thus more competitive in their hunt for a job. (We'd speculate that such a tendency has evolutionary roots.) The tendency to self aggrandize about career capabilities goes beyond the current unemployed looking for work in this harsh economic climate. Evidence suggests we are in another climate, one in which people have embraced belief in a lower threshold for how success is earned and what it takes to achieve. It has created higher expectations about the value of one's experience and accomplishments.

Can we learn anything by looking at the highest achievers of all in society? From the geniuses in our midst?

It's tempting to think that genius is genetically determined (or god-given), an innate ability that simply exists and emerges of its own accord requiring little effort. Two recent books that study the ways of geniuses share a startling discovery. We might do well to take a page from their books and take it to heart.

In its review of these two books, the New York Times reports:

"The latest research suggests a more prosaic, democratic, even puritanical view of the world. The key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not a divine spark. It’s not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success, even in realms like chess. Instead, it’s deliberate practice. Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) rigorously practicing their craft."

The full article is available here.

It is a refreshing perspective indeed: Short-cuts are illusory. If even geniuses have to work hard and diligently for their prodigious feats, what makes us think we can do any less in pursuit of our own?

The language of thought: how will it evolve?

Truncated communication is a feature of everyday life. We imagine linguistic experts would say that while this tendency has been with us for a while, it's rapid growth is due to a diffusion of technologies and cultural adoption of their expressive possibilities. Texting and emoticons have been augmented more recently by the trend for microblogging, through Twitter and Facebook.

Though linguists, psychologists and anthropologists might disagree on the degree of emphasis, we imagine that they'd concur that one of the richest ways to understand how a culture thinks is through its language.

The relationship between language and thought raises an interesting question about the uptick trend in communications truncation: what impact does it have upon thinking and coherence of thought? Does one beget the other?

As seems characteristic of the digital medium (across the variety of channels people use to communicate) there is a seductiveness in the speed with which people can contribute. Our research suggests that the efficiency and ease with which one expresses one's self or dispatches a reply invokes a confidence in the content itself. (Feel free to contact us to learn more about our findings.)

An opinion however is not synonymous with an idea nor does it confer rigor, though there seems to be a widespread assumptiveness (or at the very least a misconception) that it does.

There is an alarming casualness with which people claim expertise today, a disturbing comfort with which they adopt a tonality that suggests authority, when in reality they are far from having that earned stature. One only has to surf the net on a relatively modest number of sites to witness this in action.

What do Boomers and Gen Y have in common?

First, Boomers
Boomers have redefined retirement, the latest in a lineage of reinvention they’ve left in their wake. They refuse to go quietly into the night. Unprecedented numbers of this group are giving up the porch swing (or couch) to be actively involved in volunteering. Many report it is a new – albeit unpaid – career.


Now, Generation Y
This cohort has an insatiable appetite for communication. They suffocate without access to IM, e-mail, cell-phones. It is their oxygen, crucial not just for staying ‘with it’ but for managing their social capital and maintaining their place in the social hierarchy. They are prolific bloggers (particularly girls) endlessly taking part in quizzes and promoting the results.


Finally, the tie that binds
Both Boomers and Gen Y share a quest for significance.

Boomers are older and more secure with themselves, having achieved moderate financial success in their lives, but there is still a longing. Theirs is a desire not just to ‘do good’, but to be remembered for something meaningful.

Gen Y craves popularity but the ability to express character is limited when everyone has access to the same brands. Influence has become the new medium, if not currency. By proselytizing opinions their personal brand can achieve significance across a variety of channels: through how many friends will listen to them in the schoolyard or on-line, how many friends they have on Myspace, how many followers they have on Twitter. Of course it’s ‘significance’ with a very short shelf life (especially with this ADD affected group). And that’s the difference in a core theme that these two groups share.

Unconscious activity is 'thinking'.

When it comes to dissecting the brain, the subconscious can hardly be considered new territory. Freud gave it significant attention almost 100 years ago after all.

There has however been a stack of current coverage which has raised the visibility of this subject, notable contributions being Gladwell's Blink and Robert Walker's Buying In.


















































Neuroscience has recently shed light on previously unknown processes and activities. Mind Wide Open ably provides an accessible introduction to this emerging field.

All three sources reach the same conclusion. Much of what we believe is ‘free-will’ is apparently far from it. Brain activity below the surface of our awareness accounts from much of what we do, and has an inertia that carries through to our conscious realm.

It’s a theme affirmed in this week’s The Economist. In describing the use of brain imaging upon people given tasks to solve, it reports that EEG traces preceded conscious awareness by a participant of an ‘aha’-type moment by some eight (8) seconds. More curious still, while not all participants solved the task, the character of how brains ‘lit up’ was predictive of which people solved the challenge and which did not.

While the idea of a subconscious is not new - nor is the idea that its processing takes place beyond our ability to access or influence it - such activity is not thought of as, well, thinking. The findings from the study by Dr. Bhattacharya and Dr. Sheth are exciting precisely because they suggest that it is.

So while the magazine's reference to it as 'unconscious thought' might at first appear counter-intuitive, it is highly apt.

The full article appears here Here

Crowdsourcing Caveats: NASA Learns The Hard Way

Colbert's chutzpah created colossal cosmonaut calamity.


















In the spirit of modern brand engagement, NASA decided to invite people to vote for the name of a new room in its space station. Crowdsourcing is in vogue because soliciting participation encourages involvement and belonging (hence enhanced attachment). It's also part of a wider democratization, a trend fueled by the internet and social media in which people participate in brands rather than them being formally planned and imposed by anointed architects.

It comes with risks however, as NASA discovered. Its failure to stipulate that choices were only among those listed gave Colbert the latitude to encourage his devoted followers to write-in HIS name, which thousands duly did.

In an additional failure to understand the cultural climate in which it exists, NASA has announced that it reserves the right not to adopt the winning name and select an alternative. Asking people for their opinion and then not listening to it is a sure-fire way to evoke a backlash. Better not to be involved than actively ignored. One hopes that NASA will come to their senses and that next time it will frame participation in a way that avoids unanticipated - and in this instance unwelcome - contributions.

A Straight Line That's A Curve? Hyperbolic But True.

It sounds either impossible or something which only lives in the realm of the fantastical, such as that distant and murky realm of Quantum Mechanics in which matter can purportedly exist in two places at the same time.

OFD has found that however impossible problems appear to be or daunting challenges might seem, progress and solutions can often come in a surprisingly simple way: from seeing things from a different perspective.

We sought this ourselves recently, and did what we compel our clients to do on occasion: step away from the problem - and the office - and go seek some inspiration where it matters. For the nature of our problem, we went to The Exploratorium, a brilliant laboratory of ideas which encourages interactivity and literal hands-on learning.

How can something straight fit into a curve?

It was one of the provocative riddles we encountered on an entertaining and thoroughly inspiring field trip.

The answer was simple, with a new perspective. A line rotated in the right plane makes a hyperbolic curve. The hands-on exhibit allowed the viewer to manipulate a steel rod literally through a curve in a piece of plexiglass. The visual evidence was irrefutable yet mind-bending nonetheless.

When is an idea not an idea?

The image is instantly recognizable for its place in the recent election campaign. Its existence is a testament to the success the democratic party achieved in conscripting influencers to support its cause, such as the artist Shepard Fairey.

Now, it's not without controversy. According to a recent piece in The Guardian, the AP is taking legal action, claiming that the artist stole its image and used it without permission.























Of course, this is not the first time that allegations of copyright infringement have surfaced, nor also in high-profile circumstances. But it raises an interesting question:

When is an idea not an idea? Put an other way, how much change is needed to an original for it to become a different idea?

We think Fairey's cause will be helped by the fact the style that defines the piece has fueled a populist movement, one in which people convert images of themselves into this distinctive graphic form. (Obamiconme). These have been appearing all over the internet, including being used as personal icons in social media venues such as facebook.
























That suggests an idea of its own merit to the legal lay people here at Open Fridge Door.

Giving Digital Music that Warm Vinyl Feel in the Age of The Internet - Part II

We posted a curious find on October 15th last year, one that stirred some unexpected nostalgia.

We've brought it back because it seems that original link to the video has been shut-down. Someone at You Tube determined there was a copyright issue. This is strange indeed for if anything the video provided exposure for an artist (for free). The evidently rough sound of the album recorded through a poor quality video camera wouldn't discourage people from buying the music. The quality really is quite bad. (For decades, The Grateful Dead allowed bootlegs precisely because they helped fuel interest in album sales.)

But You Tube demonstrate short-sightedness in another regard. Instead of trying to 'silence' people sharing music, why not incorporate a seamless way for that music to be bought and downloaded? Why not convert awareness and interest immediately into purchase? Why not have functionality built into the site or linked to iTunes? A great missed opportunity indeed.

As a tribute to the age of vinyl here's another example, created by someone inspired to copy the originator of this nostalgia inducing experience.

There's something oddly fascinating about seeing an album turn on a record player while the song plays. Millions of teenagers spent hours doing exactly this, camped out on a bedroom floor scrutinizing the liner notes while the record spun mesmerizingly. How times have changed.

But in addition to the warmer sound that is attributed to vinyl, it was also a time in which where the music was stored and how it was being retrieved was there in full view, something that with cds, iPods and dvd is hidden as a matter of course.

The Opportunity for Brands in a Time of Adversity

The adversity felt right now is a collective squeeze, a nation tightening its proverbial belt in a reaction (if not anticipation) of a greater need for frugality. Many companies are experiencing softening sales.

We at OFD think that for certain brands, a time of adversity is an opportunity. It's a chance for brands to strengthen relationships with existing customers, but perhaps the biggest upside comes in inspiring a connection and bond among people currently outside the brand fold. Doing so the right way can stabilize sales and reverse a downward trend, instead of a purely tactic response of price discounting, which can erode the brand's perceived value not to mention profits.

The cultural context
This is a zeitgeist moment. On a mass scale people are struggling financially and psychologically with extended uncertainty; the road through the turmoil is unclear and people have braced themselves for a tough journey ahead.

The brand connection opportunity
Brands can inspire a bond by going beyond mere empathy for how the current climate is affecting people and instead take actions that show genuine understanding and commitment to help.

The idea: Fuel For Everyday Life
Be a champion of the people in their pursuit of moving forward by being the fuel that energizes people and feeds their need to keep going....for getting through their day/week.


































The action
Something as simple as a message about the importance of fueling one's day in conjunction with distributing samples at unemployment lines, malls where busy mom shop or to commuters as they file in to work in the morning, could help to give contemporary relevance to products in a context broader than the typical ones these brands are associated with.


The point
Just as adversity builds character, so a brand's character can be built when inspiring a valued connection during a time of adversity.

Using a Little Visual Wit to Help an Idea Stick

We're bombarded daily with communications imploring us to recycle, to think of the consequences of our actions. These messages have been long overdue, but many of them are being tuned out simply because they are becoming too commonplace.

It is a challenge many companies and their brands face. In the 'noise' or 'clutter' of advertising and promotional appeals, being noticed at all is harder than ever. It was Mae West who famously intoned "It is better to be look-over than over-looked" when asked if she minded being gawped at. Many brands should be so lucky.

So this charming piece of communication stood out effortlessly in a sea of sameness. Here, visual design and a little wit have been imaginatively employed to get the message across without getting in the way. And that's the trick. Not 'design' for its own sake (all too common too is seems these days) but one which inspires the reader to linger and - importantly - take something away that will be remembered.

The Other Thing That Tourists Leave Behind

Tourists to San Francisco arrive in great number, a reverse diaspora of different cultures converging upon our own. The currency they bring remains after they are gone but there's something else similarly valuable which they leave behind if we're lucky enough to notice - a fresh perspective on the city we live in, one whose familiarity often makes us blind to some of its fine features, character and vitality.

The opportunity is quite literally everywhere around us and comes from that ubiquitous, indispensable accessory of well-equipped travelers. In their act of lifting up cameras - or often these days it seems, phones - to a scene or landmark they want to capture for a memory, so too our own perspectives are raised, and we have the fleeting chance to glimpse our environs in a new way, through the eyes of an outsider.

The beautiful fantasy of revisionist history

Of course, it was never really like this.

And of course it absolutely doesn't matter. Because our senses our delighted at the imagined world back in 1984 when Virgin Atlantic started flying translatlantically.

It's a faithful (if not tongue in-cheek) capture of London life, full of subtle observations about technology (look at the brick-sized cell phone) the economy (miners' strike) entertainment culture (Asteroids arcade games, rubik's cube, a Big Country album) and how utterly colorless flying was back then (and still is in many regards).

There are definitely hints of Addicted to Love in the stunning collection of Flight Attendants, though here wearing the corporate red rather than the black of the Robert Palmer video.

Thank you to Virgin (and RCKR/Y&R) for this delightful piece of fantasy that does it's job in style.

How To Give Digital Music that Warm Vinyl Feel in the Age of The Internet

This is compulsive viewing.

If you're born after 1975 you can go back to somnambulence. Those born before may experience a strange yet familiar stirring from this mesmerizing video. It might be nostalgia, not for a sound quality that was generally far inferior to cd and mp3 era music, but for the ritual of sitting down, for that first listen, the disk spinning endlessly as we devoured the liner notes and artwork. People don't listen to music this way anymore.

Thanks to bridgebolt for making it possible, and bringing back a piece of the past which had been too easily forgotten.

A True Maverick in the Face of Pretenders

Mr Hirst is nothing if not contravertial. But he must be admired for the recent auction of his work, a gutsy move on several fronts:

* He was offering work for sale for the first time (unlike galleries which only sells work that had sold before) The lots falling under the hammer at the September 5th auction lacked a historically confirmed valuation, which could have put his reputation at risk, moreso because of the intense publicity surrounding the event.

* Unlike the safe harbor of a gallery, the price of work can't be controlled when sold at auction (a reserve notwithstanding); the market determines the price and this can be uncertain, particularly for works that have not sold before.

* Selling a moderate number of lots helps to keep the price higher as supply is restricted. Hirst bucked the wisdom by offering a vast number of lots at one time which risked depressing the price (though this did not happen)

* The biggest convention he overturned however is the idea that an original work is produced at the hand of the artist. He employs more than 180 people in operations that amount to factories, assembly line in style, which produce works that Mr. Hirst approves, sometime from no more than a photograph. The result is a prolific scale of art for sale that is unmatched by other artists but not by his ambition and ravenous appetite for success.

Daniel Hirst can certainly be seen as an agent provocateur today, not just through his art but by how he goes to market. Has he always been like this?

We suspect that his mum may have the answer. She can shed light on whether pushing boundaries and hot buttons simply because they are there is a relatively recent development or whether it had early stirrings from the time he was lad.