Blogs Oct 5, 2009 at 4:50 pm

Are We Happy?

Grant Brissey
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Comments

1
Yes. We. Are. Happy. .. You. Would. Do. Well. To. Stop. Questioning. Our. Overlords. .. Don't. Worry. Be. Happy. .. Or. Be. Reported.
treacle on October 5, 2009 at 5:05 PM Report this
2
Looks like facebook took a page from the King of Bhutan's book: http://www.grossnationalhappiness.com/. He made Gross National Happiness his number one goal. The endeavor is beautiful in its optimism.
Davey on October 5, 2009 at 5:09 PM Report this
3
That Happiness chart probably tracks accurately with alcohol sales.
DOUG. on October 5, 2009 at 5:17 PM Report this
4
Wow. I want some of what they're doing.
Fifty-Two-Eighty on October 5, 2009 at 5:19 PM Report this
5
People in Vancouver BC are probably way happier than us here in Seattle.

They have single payer national health care at $54 a month, a multi-city elevated light rail system, and don't have Seattle Syndrome.
Will in Seattle on October 5, 2009 at 5:25 PM Report this
6
We now have data to support the hypothesis that Thanksgiving is awesome.
Alicia on October 5, 2009 at 5:26 PM Report this
7

Turkey farms are clearly plumping the birds with pills of ecstasy.

Dominic Holden on October 5, 2009 at 5:27 PM Report this
8
That's not omniscience. It's masturbation. Stroke the data hard enough and any old thing you want will come out of it.
Fnarf on October 5, 2009 at 5:42 PM Report this
9
Is anyone that perpetually fiddles with their Facebook "mood" really happy?
Dougsf on October 5, 2009 at 5:53 PM Report this
10
@9 Dougsf, you are on a roll.
Renton Mike on October 5, 2009 at 6:03 PM Report this
11
I'm overcompensating for posting here, yet not actually living there anymore. Tomorrow, I'll post something that completely misses the point, replete with typos.
Dougsf on October 5, 2009 at 6:17 PM Report this
12
It's not like people would have a FB status of Happy Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving, or people like me with lots of family, friends, and so on would have a lot of status updates that say Happy Soon To Be Birthday, Nephew Antonio!
Will in Seattle on October 5, 2009 at 6:22 PM Report this
13
I assume the regular, respiration-like oscillations mark the expected blue-monday/TGIF roller coaster. But I can think of a lot of ways this doesn't seem to square with real life, and then there's the obvious selection bias for people who are idle enough or anal enough to bother updating their FB status.
rob! on October 5, 2009 at 8:12 PM Report this
14
several years ago a couple researchers did this with blog posts etc. It's a fascinating look at our collective mood. You can find their presentation on TED.com. Here is the website: http://www.wefeelfine.org/
on October 6, 2009 at 9:15 AM Report this
15
Facebook made me miserable, so I got off it. Now I'm happy! Track that, facebook.
DizMixen on October 6, 2009 at 10:39 AM Report this
16
Ummm... it must be broken. Happy spikes at Christmas, Valentines Day, etc?!? I find that hard to believe... I hope they're not including the words HAPPY and MERRY in their searches; otherwise they’re catching all us lonely Facebook-ers wishing others enjoyable holidays -- FAIL!
borgboi on October 6, 2009 at 4:25 PM Report this

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