Do you receive catalogs in the mail? Are there any you particularly look forward to getting and perusing?
Share why if you wish.
Category: Shopping
What Is Your Favorite Commercial?
Most commercials are annoying. Some however, are clever, funny, relatable, or heartwarming. Do you have a favorite?
Share why if you wish.
Do We Have Too Much Stuff?
In many ways, our society is based on the idea of buying things. It helps keep our economy active, but does it lead to us having too much stuff?
Having a healthy economy seems to be good for everyone. Companies have the resources to produce goods, workers have money to buy those goods, and owners can turn a profit. Everyone wins, right?
Of course, it is not that simple. One problem we are seeing is that people buy things without necessarily having the money to be able to afford them. Credit, in the form of loans or credit cards, make it all too easy to buy things without necessarily having the money for them.
Another issue is with the environment. Making goods takes resources and energy, and those are available in finite quantities. Our consumer culture is leading to the depletion of natural resources, or environmental devastation in the effort to get more.
The primary problem we are talking about today regards the accumulation of stuff. In a consumer culture, an entire industry has been created around convincing you that you need to buy the latest tech, another car, tchotchkes and doodads of all sorts.
Some people have a problem with hoarding, bringing item after item into their home and never throwing anything out. Others move their excess stuff to a storage locker, if they have too much to fit in the home where they live. Or perhaps things just get dumped in a landfill if we no longer have space.
Is this a real problem in our society? Are we living in an unsustainable way when it comes to our belongings? Or is it just a case of some people having too much disposable income and too little self control?
Related questions: How much is enough? What material possession means the most to you? What possessions of yours will someone want when you die? How many pairs of shoes do you own?
How Often Do You Shop At A Farmer’s Market?
Fresh fruit and produce is delicious and healthy. And it is always good to support local businesses. How often do you shop at a farmer’s market?
Share why if you wish.
How Accurate Is Your Algorithm?
Most people these days have an active online life. In that life, much of the online content is delivered via algorithm. Is that algorithm any good?
Of course, different websites employ different algorithms. The basic idea is the same in each case, however: if you like this thing, you will also like this other thing.
These programs appear just about everywhere online. For example, when you watch a YouTube video, a YouTube algorithm suggests other videos that you may also want to watch.
Not only are these programs ubiquitous, they are crucial to any good website. In the above example, if the YouTube algorithm does not suggest videos you actually want to watch, then you may leave the platform altogether. So, from YouTube’s perspective, it is vitally important that the algorithm work as intended.
What may not be quite so obvious, however, is how important it is to you. There are so many videos available on YouTube that it is impossible to watch them all. In fact, without some way of singling out videos that have some interest to you, you would almost certainly become overwhelmed.
Of course, it is not just YouTube that employs an algorithm to deliver content. Social media sites do it as well. They may suggest other accounts you may want to follow, or posts you may want to see. Online stores use them to practice a modern-day version of an ages old technique of up-selling. Online advertisements, which use cookies to track your browsing habits, can be tailor made to get you to buy something.
In your experience, are these algorithms any good? Does Netflix suggest TV shows and movies that you actually want to watch? Does Amazon recommend products that actually end up in your shopping cart? Is your Facebook feed made up of posts that interest you?
How accurate is your algorithm?
Related questions: What makes us comment on social media? What do you get out of social media? How does technology influence your emotions? How does media manipulate you?