Rapid Thinking Makes People Happy

Accelerated thoughts may trigger the brain's novelty-loving reward system

By Siri Carpenter    
February 2009 Scientific American Mind

Lousy day? Don’t try to think happy thoughts—just think fast. A new study shows that accelerated thinking can improve your mood. In six experiments, researchers at Princeton and Harvard universities made research participants think quickly by having them generate as many problem-solving ideas (even bad ones) as possible in 10 minutes, read a series of ideas on a computer screen at a brisk pace or watch an I Love Lucy video clip on fast-forward. Other participants performed similar tasks at a relaxed speed.

Results suggested that thinking fast made participants feel more elated, creative and, to a lesser degree, energetic and powerful. Activities that promote fast thinking, then, such as whip ping through an easy crossword puzzle or brain-storming quickly about an idea, can boost energy and mood, says psychologist Emily Pronin, the study’s lead author.

Sociologists have developed elaborate theories of who spreads gossip and news — who tells whom, who matters most in social networks — but they’ve had less success measuring what kind of information travels fastest. Do people prefer to spread good news or bad news? Would we rather scandalize or enlighten? Which stories do social creatures want to share, and why?

Blogging among teens and young adults

Since 2006, blogging has dropped among teens and young adults while simultaneously rising among older adults. As the tools and technology embedded in social networking sites change, and use of the sites continues to grow, youth may be exchanging ‘macro-blogging’ for microblogging with status updates.

Blogging has declined in popularity among both teens and young adults since 2006. Blog commenting has also dropped among teens.

• 14% of online teens now say they blog, down from 28% of teen internet users in 2006.
• This decline is also reflected in the lower incidence of teen commenting on blogs within social networking websites; 52% of teen social network users report commenting on friends’ blogs, down from the 76% who did so in 2006.
• By comparison, the prevalence of blogging within the overall adult internet population has remained steady in recent years. Pew Internet surveys since 2005 have consistently found that roughly one in ten online adults maintain a personal online journal or blog.

EventVue post-mortem

 Friday, February 5, 2010

Unfortunately, we have decided to shut down EventVue.  You can read our founder’s letter to customers and friends here.

We’re very thankful for all the support that EventVue has received.  Many people have helped us, cheered for us, and challenged us.

We also deeply believe in the power of failure to teach and help us learn.  In fact, we understand with even more clarity now why there is so much advice for entrepreneurs - no one who has failed wants their mistakes repeated.  In that spirit, we’re sharing publicly our EventVue post-mortem.

EventVue - a look backwards
Over the past 3 years, we have tried various products and markets in the event industry and have not made a business with growth.

Your brain's tipping point is maxed out at 150 Facebook friends

Half of Americans Will Go Online to Fullfill New Year’s Resolutions

The internet will play big role in many Americans’ efforts to fulfill their New Year’s resolutions, according to a recent study by Performics. The research found that nearly half (48%) of respondents indicated they would use the internet to perform research as it relates to accomplishing their resolution.

Specifically, the December results from the “2009 Online Buyer Economic Trend Study” revealed that 36% of US consumers indicate they will go online to purchase items to further their resolutions, and 14% say they will uise an online support group or community to help reach their 2010 goals.