Who cares about the color of that dress. Everyone, except my father

One of the first things I did when I got home Friday evening was hug my dad. I let him know how school was going and of course I had to ask him what color he thought the famous (blue and black) dress was that was breaking the Internet. He looked at it and said white and gold and I disagreed completely. Then he asked me, "Can this dress help you get a job or help you in school?" That  is when I got excited and told him about my Current Issues in Mass Communications class where we blog about interests, new inventions and issues in mass media.

I told him as a matter of fact it does help me in school because I can blog about it, and I can also blog about him not understanding the point on social media. Every time I mention to him about something that happened on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter all he does is look at me and says "Who cares." My father is a very practical and tactful man and things like posting what you're doing on social media and letting your friends know what you're up to doesn't phase him.

He once said, "Why do I need to post on Facebook if I can just call up my friend and tell him or her what I'm doing." Or "If I post my brand new watch on Instagram, how I will I know someone isn't plotting to come rob me for it." Or pertaining to the dress situation he said, "I'd much rather be doing something meaningful than worrying about what color a dress is."

Out of all the people I asked about the dress I knew his opinion would be the most interesting because of how old-fashioned he is. People were going crazy over the Internet about what color this dress was, by changing the lighting on their phones to looking at it again in the morning as soon as they woke up. One girl I knew even said she was concerned that her friend saw different colors.

This is perfect proof of how the Internet has the ability to put our focus on something that we never would have thought of before. Like my dad said, who cares? No one cares about a dress until people start seeing different colors. No one cares about anything until there is a twist to it causing people to go insane on the Internet.

Not only has it proliferated on the Internet, but it also has shown up on major news channels. I asked my mother the same question and she said she heard about it on the news when she woke up Friday morning. I think a lot of news happens this way now, where it starts on the Internet via social media and then is brought up on major news outlets. It truly explains the power of posting and going viral.

I attempted to tell my father the purposes of social media and how businesses use it to advertise and sell products and how it is the way everyone is communicating these days, but he still didn't see the value. It's so hard for me at least not to talk about something that everyone else is talking about online for fear of not being in the loop, but according to my dad, my generation would be a hell of a lot more focused on things that matter in our own lives than worrying about some dress. Have a little fun dad.