Seriously. ‘What Hug Are You?’ is an actually quiz and over 24,000 people have liked it. They say “the result may surprise you.” Well that one certainly does!
Taking a very tongue-in-cheek look at this; have we got nothing better to do than fill out mindless quizzes that mean absolutely nothing and say zero about who we really are? There has been a huge influx of them this year and in the past month even more so. A lot of the more ridiculous ones are being pumped out by one website; Survley.com In three months they have gone from nothing to almost 15,000 subscribers with their website now worth $24,674,00. I have seen so many of them shared by my friends and family. ‘What Kind Of Dog Are You?’ ‘What Do Your Eyes Mean?’ ‘What Flavour Cupcake Are You?‘
The latest one I’ve seen – and the one that promoted me to write this article – was ‘What Type of Person Are You?’ As if by ticking ten boxes you will discover the answers to all those deep-rooted questions you’ve been asking yourself. Do we really need affirmation for who we are from a benign quiz? It’s like reading your horoscope and telling people how accurate it is. They are never accurate! Horoscopes are made up slabs of drivel slapped into the back of papers and magazines. I know because I used to write them when I worked in journalism.
I have already shared my thoughts on the quiz subject with my FaceBook feed and the response was “it’s just a bit of fun.” I admit, some quizzes are fun; I have and will continue to do online quizzes from time to time. They usually revolve around how many movies I’ve seen or music I’ve listened to etc. (That reminds me, there’s even a quiz out there called ‘What Movie Genre Are You’ how can that be relevant, fun or interesting to the six thousand people who have already done it?) But I do find movie and music quizzes fun, as I then have a record of what I have seen/listened to and what I still need to. These are not the same as ‘What Chocolate Dessert Are You?’ (29,000 people for that one!)
Since the advent of social media we now associate not doing anything with being bored. Have we lost the art of deep thought? We watch TV with our smartphones or tablets, conversation while texting and checking emails while eating dinner. We can’t even go to the toilet without our phones in hand! I do some of those as well and I think the majority of us do, but we should have no reason to feel bored any more. And certainly never bored enough to fill out one of these bloody quizzes.
For me, I write – a lot. I know that’s not an enjoyable thing to do for everyone, but we do have the internet at our fingertips 24/7. There is more on here than just Facebook, Twitter and porn (or should that be Tumblr?!?) Instead of clicking on ‘What Yoghurt Flavour Are You?’ go on Wikipedia. There is so much we don’t know and Wiki is a great place to start. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Start your own Wiki page; it’s filled out by regular people like you and me.
I have friends who don’t know who Clement Attlee was or the truth about climate change. History isn’t just our relatively small lifespans, it’s the whole of time. Log into IFLScience and read an article, open a world map and find out how it has been altered for Westerners; learn about music, fashion trends or watch ‘how to’ videos on YouTube. Anything and everything you have ever wanted to know is a mere click away. Don’t know how the internet works? Find out. If not on the internet, pop to your local library – and quick, before they’re all closed down.
Failing all that; there is a world outside our four walls which is vast, beautiful and ever changing. It doesn’t cost anything to go out for a walk or run. Instead of using the camera on your phone for blurry selfies, take some snaps of things that interest you. You could even start your own blog here and post your images for the whole world to see. You could even make them into your own quiz: What Colour Dog Droppings Are You?
There has to be more to life than finding out ‘what spice you are’. (Over one million people for that one!) Surely? We are not the mindless drones depicted in 1984. And if you don’t know that reference, you really must read the book. (It’s not even that long.)
#TerryGee
PS All named quizzes are real – except the dog droppings one.
PPS Everyone I know including my partner, family and close friends all do these quizzes.