Category: Viral

Humans are infinitely complex beings, but we can also be very predictable. That sounds paradoxical, but just as people are capable of complex feats of reasoning, we also have instinctual, subconscious reactions to everyday events that make it easy to anticipate our behaviors.

There is an art to navigating complex social situations, whether with friends, family, coworkers, customer service people, or business relationships. One of the most significant advantages is knowing how to respond to other people’s behavior correctly. A skillful response in the right moment can make all the difference, whether it means closing a deal, getting someone to like you, or calming down an agitated customer.

A Redditor who goes by the name Orthopod_ace asked the AskReddit forum, “What’s the best psychology trick you know?” and nearly 2,000 people shared the social hacks they use when interacting with others.

---

Many responses centered around easy-to-learn social tricks people can use to change others’ attitudes, opinions, and behaviors. We made a list of 15 of the best psychological tricks, or “social hacks,” as we’re calling them, to help you with your interpersonal relationships.

Here are 15 social hacks that make dealing with friends, family and coworkers much easier.

1. Give kids the illusion of choice

“Any illusion of choice you can give a kid works wonders. ‘It’s bedtime, do you want to go potty or brush teeth first?’ ; ‘Do you want green beans or corn with your chicken nuggets tonight?’ ; ‘Do you want to clean up the books or the puzzles?'”

2. Silence is golden

“In a negotiation (e.g. when buying a car) stop talking and let the other party speak. Uncomfortable silences work very well in negotiations.”

“Silence also works if you think someone is lying to you. Someone lying will instinctively keep trying to convince you, and will often add more noticeable exaggerations.”

“Works great in call center work with angry callers, too. And you always have the plausible excuse of ‘I’m just ensuring I didn’t accidentally interrupt you.'”

3. Greet people with enthusiasm

“If you greet people as though you are excited to see them they will be equally happy to see you. This works great if you work in customer service and don’t want to deal with people with bad attitudes.”

“Also, to the receiver, you never know how being greeted as if you are important can impact a person. A lot of people walk around thinking they don’t matter, no one notices them, they are a burden, etc. Being greeted with a warm, excited hello does make a difference.”

4. Ask angry people to rephrase what they’re saying

“If someone is angry with me and yelling or whatever. I will calmly say , ‘I think I understand, but could you phrase the problem differently to help me understand better?’ 9/10 times they stop dead in their tracks, regroup and rephrase calmly and way nicer. In short, getting people to actively think about what and how they say something.”

“I like to say ‘I hear you, but I just need a minute to process what you’re saying.’ For some reason that calms people down. I started doing it because it was true.”

5. People live up to your expectations

“If you praise people and treat them as if they’re their best selves, and point out all the positive things they do and what you like about their behavior, they’ll do more of it, and they’ll do their best to live up to that expectation. The same goes for if you treat them as losers and only point out what they’re doing wrong; they’ll live up to that as well.”

6. You don’t need an answer

“Just because someone asks you a question doesn’t mean they get to decide what sort of answers they can get. If you’re asked about a complicated topic, it’s okay to say, ‘I don’t think I have enough information’ or ‘I think I need to think about it better for an answer’ if you don’t feel comfortable answering.

7. Mirror people

“When you’re trying to connect with someone mirror their body language and keep eye contact. And when interacting with people, try to keep your posture straight and don’t close yourself off. Keep your body language open and relaxed and people will enjoy your company more and be more likely to trust you.”

There’s a lot of science to back up the mirroring theory, also known as the “chameleon effect.” Studies show that when we reflect other people’s expressions and mannerisms, they are more likely to think of us positively. “Not only do we tend to like people who ‘get us,’ but we also trust them more, judge them as more attractive than we otherwise would, and feel more connected to them,” Suzanne Degges-White, Ph.D., writes in Psychology Today.

8. Give them the point

“When debating someone, concede a point early on. You will be amazed at what people will concede once they know they are not the first to do so. And they’ll always concede something larger than you have. I negotiate for a living … works like a charm!”

9. Look forward

“When navigating busy sidewalks and people walking towards you, keep getting in your way, keep your eyes focused on where you are going, and don’t make any eye contact. People will glance at your face and instinctively avoid your path. It’s not a perfect solution but it’s a noticeable improvement. Works best if you’re tall you can also fix your target direction on a distant tree if you’re not.”

10. Fix relationships through learning

“If you work with someone who you have a stressed relationship, ask them to teach you something. Even if you already know it. It’ll help repair the relationship, and that person will never know.”

11. Stay calm when dealing with angry people

“When someone is mad at you, stay calm and lower your voice. It confuses their anger response and might just make them feel like they’re the crazy one. It’s like turning down the volume on a chaotic playlist!”

12. “Can you explain that?”

“When someone tells you something you find offensive and then tries to play it off as a joke, ask them to explain the joke to you. Awkward silence ensues.”

13. Ask for a favor

“People will like you more and be more willing to help you if you ask them for a small, harmless favor. If someone seems to be clashing with you, asking them for help or to do something innocuous for you can actually help that dynamic. It’s like their subconscious observes them doing something for you and assumes ‘Oh, I guess I help that person, I must like them.'”

This theory is known as the Ben Franklin effect because he wrote about it in his autobiography. “He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.” Many believe the psychological phenomenon works due to cognitive dissonance. Our brain can’t stand conflicting beliefs, so when we do a favor for someone, it convinces us we like the person to reduce feelings of discomfort.

14. Positive framing

“Instead of apologizing for a wait, thank them for their patience.”

15. Expose a liar

“If you think someone is lying to you, get them to tell their story in reverse order, ‘Memento’ style. Was a fraud investigator in a previous life and this never failed me.”

A few times in recent years, celebrities and social media influencers alike have made waves by sharing that they don’t make their kids bathe every day. For some parents, that was totally par for the course, but for others, letting a child go more than a day without bathing was seen as a travesty.

Doctors have made it clear that kids don’t need to bathe daily, with some going so far as to recommend against it when they are young to protect kids’ delicate skin.

But what about grownups? Most of us don’t take baths regularly as adults, but what’s the ideal frequency for showering?

---

According to a YouGov poll of over 5,700 Americans, just over half of respondents said they shower daily and 11% said they shower twice or more per day. That means two out of three of us are showering at least once a day.

But according to doctors and dermatologists, that’s probably overkill for most people. Unless you’re doing heavy labor, exercising vigorously, working outdoors or around toxins or otherwise getting excessively dirty or sweaty, a few showers per week is enough for healthy hygiene.

In fact, Robert H. Shmerling, MD of Harvard Health says too frequent showering could actually have some negative effects on your health.

“Normal, healthy skin maintains a layer of oil and a balance of ‘good’ bacteria and other microorganisms,” Dr. Shmerling writes. “Washing and scrubbing removes these, especially if the water is hot.” He shares that removing that protective layer can make our skin dry, irritated or itchy, which can lead to damage that allows allergens and bacteria to cross the skin barrier. Additionally, our immune systems require exposure to microorganisms, dirt, and other environmental stimuli in order to create “immune memory,” and if we wash them away too frequently, we might be inhibiting the effectiveness of our immune system.

Dermatologists who spoke to Vogue had similar advice about shower frequency. Board-certified dermatologist Deanne Robinson, MD, FAAD told the magazine that you can skip showering for the day if you haven’t engaged in rigorous activity. Mamina Turegano, a triple board-certified dermatologist, internist and dermatopathologist. agreed. “I think that showering three to four times a week is plenty for most people,” she said.

Of course, everyone is different and what is good for one person’s skin isn’t good for another’s. Showering frequency and health also depend on what kinds of products you’re using, what temperature of water you’re using and how long your shower is. There’s a big difference between a quick pits-and-privates rinse-off and a long, hot shower.

While scorching yourself and steaming up the bathroom may feel luxurious and relaxing, especially if you’ve got sore muscles, dermatologists say it’s not good for your skin. Hot showers are especially problematic for people with skin issues like eczema.

“Any skin condition characterized by a defective skin barrier can be worsened by a hot shower,” board-certified New York City dermatologist Shari Marchbein told Allure. “[It] strips the skin of sebum, the healthy fats and oils necessary for skin health, and dehydrates the skin.”

In fact most dermatologists recommend keeping showers lukewarm. That sounds like torture, frankly, but who’s going to argue with the experts?

A lot of people, actually. Modern humans are pretty particular about our shower preferences, and judging from the comments on cleanliness discussions, some folks are dead set on the idea that a daily shower is simply not negotiable. Even with the experts weighing in with their knowledge and science, a lot of people will continue to do what they do, advice be damned.

But at least the folks who’ve been judged harshly by the daily shower police have some official backup. As long as you’re showering every couple of days, you’re golden. As it turns out, there really is such a thing as being too clean.

This article originally appeared on 3.7.24

Online shopping is an integral part of adult life no matter what age group you fall into. But apparently there’s one digital spending habit that didn’t make it to Gen Z.

UK-based radio host Jennie Longdon recently went viral for sharing how—despite being able to do virtually everything from our phones—folks over the age of 30 can’t seem to part with using their laptops for “big purchases.”

“Takeaway , clothes, shoes within reason, yeah,” she says in a clip posted to her TikTok. “But…a plane ticket? That’s a laptop job!”

---

Longdon continues to feign disgust as she imagines big purchases being made from the phone, as these items obviously require the larger screen. It’s just something that a millennial brain cannot get behind. “We cannot make a big or significant purchase on the phone. You can’t browse properly.”

“Bigger screens for the big things please,” her video caption reads.

@jennielongdon Bigger screen for the big things please. #millennial #millennialsoftiktok #millenialmum #fyp #foryou ♬ original sound – Jennie Longdon

But there may be some sound reasoning behind this seemingly outdated logic. According to Fluid Commerce, the average desktop provides “over 3 times as much information” as a smartphone screen, allowing for more research. Laptops might not offer quite as much information as a desktop, but they certainly offer more than a phone, and it’s just good common sense to want as much information as possible before making an investment.

Either way, most millennials seem willing to die on this hill.

“Big purchases on the computer because I don’t trust mobile apps to show me everything I need to know,” one wrote in the comments.

“Big purchase requires the big internet,” added another.

A third said, “I will literally look at the information on my phone, then go get my laptop to go to the same site to book it.”

A few even shared horror stories of trying things the newfangled way and it backfiring immediately.

“I lived dangerously the other day and booked a hotel room on my phone and it tools ages buffering at the confirmation screen and I was fuming and knew I should’ve done it on my laptop,” one person lamented.

Another wrote, “I booked a mini break on my phone once and I accidentally refreshed the page with my thumb midway through booking.”

Still, there are some millennials who are on board with the phones-only approach.

“I booked flights, accommodation, and extracurriculars for four people on my phone recently,” one person wrote. “I was so proud.”

Another said, “I’m a millennial and I just booked my Vegas hotel and flights on the phone. It’s…..fine…..”

Lastly—kudos to this commenter, who truly got to the root of this issue by saying:

“We grew up in an age when mobile websites were terrible and we’ve never forgotten it.”

That really hits the nail on the head, doesn’t it? Some scars just never truly heal.

This article originally appeared on 5.13.24

Charli XCX got the internet all riled up today (July 31). On social media, she shared a photo that looks like the cover of a new remix of Charli’s “Guess,” and the subjects of the photo are two bodies with their heads out of frame. One of them seems to be Charli (complete with a Brat-style “lower back tattoo” lower back tattoo), while people believe they know who the other person is.

A lot of responses to the post are people speculating that it’s Billie Eilish in the photo, as the person’s style appears to be the same as hers (the person is wearing “the dumbest f*cking clothing,” as Finneas might put it). Furthermore, the text on the right side of the image teases the featured artist with underscores, and the number of underscores (13) matches up with the amount of characters in “Billie Eilish” (counting the space).

If you want to get really into the weeds, the rings on the mystery person’s hand seem to match up with the ones Eilish is wearing in photos from this recent Instagram post of hers.

Also worth noting is that Eilish was in Charli’s native UK recently, where she guested on BBC Radio 1 and shared her thoughts on the word “moist.”

The original version of “Guess” was co-written with Dylan Brady of 100 Gecs and Harrison Patrick Smith (AKA The Dare), and it appears on the deluxe edition of Brat, dubbed Brat And It’s The Same But There’s Three More Songs So It’s Not.

Ticket reselling platform StubHub is being sued by the Attorney General of Washington, DC for allegedly using hidden fees and deceptive pricing to increase its profits. According to Variety, Brian L. Schwalb, the AG of DC, filed the lawsuit today, claiming StubHub has been using “drip pricing” to generate over $115 million since 2015 — and that’s just in DC.

According to Variety, drip pricing is “the practice of advertising low prices that become inevitably inflated by hidden fees at the purchase point.” These “fulfillment and service” fees are never really explained, and even worse, StubHub uses a site timer to increase pressure on customers so they never have time to review these fees. If you’ve used the site, you’re likely familiar; a 10-minute timer appears when you search for tickets, giving a sense of urgency. “Hurry up and buy before someone else claims these,” it seems to imply, rushing customers through a series of unnecessary filler pages, adding extra steps that seemingly justify all those additional fees once it’s time to enter your credit card information.

The timer also prevents customers from shopping around at other sites and comparing prices, leading to paying way more as a result of added fees and no other options. The DC AG’s office says StubHub actually tested all-in pricing and drip pricing, comparing the results, and learning customers were more likely to buy the higher priced tickets if the fees were hidden until the end of the purchase, rather than included in the upfront pricing.

The lawsuit states, “For years, StubHub has illegally deceived District consumers through its convoluted junk fee scheme. StubHub lures consumers in by advertising a deceptively low price, forces them through a burdensome purchase process, and then finally reveals a total on the checkout page that is vastly higher than the originally advertised ticket price. This is no accident—StubHub intentionally hides the true price to boost profits at its customers’ expense. The District is home to one of the nation’s largest and most vibrant live entertainment scenes, and StubHub’s predatory tactics disproportionately harm District residents. That is why today we’re suing to end StubHub’s exploitative pricing scheme.”

StubHub isn’t the only ticketing platform to receive official scrutiny this year; in May, the US Justice Department sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster for monopolistic business practices, just about a year after Ticketmaster updated its own policy to show full prices upfront. “Junk fees” have been a point of emphasis of the current Presidential administration, a trend that can be expected to continue if Vice President Kamala Harris is elected this November.

After finishing in silver medal position in Tokyo, the U.S. women’s gymnastics team arrived in Paris looking to reassert themselves as the dominant force in women’s gymnastics. Their silver medal performance was influenced heavily by Simone Biles having to pull out of the team competition due to the twisties, and in 2024, Biles was back and looking as dominant as ever.

On Tuesday, Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera made their statement, winning team gold in emphatic fashion, finishing five points above Italy. It was a dazzling display of dominance on the four events, capped off with Simone Biles taking center stage as the final competitor with her spectacular floor routine to put an exclamation point on the win.

Afterwards, the ladies had plenty of fun on social media, including Biles who had been waiting some time to clap back at former teammate MyKayla Skinner with her Instagram caption of the gold medal winning team.

The caption was in response to Skinner calling the rest of the team out for a lack of talent and work ethic in a since-deleted video — but the internet is forever, so it’s been reposted by other accounts.

“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be. Just notice like, I mean, obviously a lot of girls don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic.”

It’s not often a team with two Olympic all-around gold medalists — Biles and Lee — get to go on a revenge tour against doubters, but they’ve taken full advantage of the chatter around the team over the last few years to fuel their fire to prove they’re still the best in the world by a good margin. That’s why the team’s internal nickname was “Team F*** Around And Find Out”, although Biles amended that on Twitter to be the “Golden Girls”, playing on the fact they’re an older group than most gymnastics squads.

Skinner’s response was to block Simone on Instagram, which the GOAT found very funny.

Taylor Swift‘s The Eras Tour has broken numerous records: the first tour to gross over $1 billion, the highest-grossing concert film of all-time, the first tour to register a 2.3-magnitude earthquake, etc. By the time the lengthy tour wraps up in December, it’s expected to surpass $2 billion in sales, and that doesn’t even include the millions made on the re-sale market.

How much of that does Taylor herself take home?

According to Variety, “One source close to the production said early in the Eras Tour era that her average gross each night is $14 million,” although another insider puts it closer to $17 million. That’s a step up from previous reporting from Forbes, which put the figure between $10 to $13 million. For comparison’s sake, the total earnings for Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce over his 12 seasons in the NFL is $76.9 million. Swift makes that in six concerts.

“She is the torchbearer for the live industry,” Pollstar editor Andy Gensler told Variety about Swift. “It’s nothing we’ve ever seen before, and it’ll be a long time before we see it again. Her timing was exquisite: The pandemic created this yearning and hunger for live entertainment like nothing else in our history, so she couldn’t have picked a better time to go out.”

Swift recently played two shows in Munich, Germany in front of 74,000 people — and tens of thousands more outside the venue.

The United States women’s gymnastics team will bring back a gold medal from the Paris Olympics. On Tuesday, the team of Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee, and Hezly Rivera wrapped up a gold in the women’s artistic team all-around, marking the third time in four Olympic Games that the U.S. won gold — the team took home silver back in 2021.

While there are still individual medals that need to be handed out, the Americans were able to roll to the team title, as they won by nearly six points over the team that won silver, Italy. And after it was all over, Biles got asked in a press conference by retired American gymnast Aly Raisman if this team has a nickname. They do, although there was a little consternation around revealing this.

“Eff around and find out,” Biles said, leading to the team’s nickname becoming F.A.A.F.O.

Now, I think it’s a very good nickname, but Biles decided to take to Twitter a little later in the day and offer up something a little more family-friendly.

In fairness to Biles, “Golden Girls” is a pretty sick nickname, too, and I’m very excited to see this get put on t-shirts to celebrate what the team accomplished.

With her/their new album Crash out, Kehlani is back in the limelight and making the rounds — which this album cycle, includes NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concerts series. The Bay Area singer’s fourth album came out in the year of what she calls her “luckiest number,” but fans are truly the lucky ones, as Kehlani’s Tiny Desk Concert showcased the full range of their prodigious talents.

Kehlani and their band put on a one-of-a-kind show, for sure, but for fans who feel that just watching from a screen isn’t enough, the singer has announced the dates of their Crash World Tour, which begins September 4 in Minneapolis with opening acts Anycia and FLO. You can see the dates for that below.

Kehlani 2024 Tour Dates: Crash World Tour

09/04 — Minneapolis, MN @ Armory
09/06 — Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
09/10 — Detroit, MI @ Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre
09/11 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
09/13 — Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
09/14 — Camden, NJ @ Freedom Mortgage Pavillion
09/17 — Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway
09/18 — Fairfax, VA @ EagleBank Arena
09/20 — Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center
09/21 — Portsmouth, VA @ Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion
09/23 — Louisville, KY @ The Louisville Palace Theatre
09/24 — Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre
09/25 — New Orleans, LA @ The Fillmore New Orleans
09/27 — Miami, FL @ FPL Solar Amphitheater at Bayfront Park
09/28 — Tampa, FL @ Yuengling Center
10/01 — Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater
10/02 — Charlotte, NC @ Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre
10/08 — Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall
10/11 — Dallas, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
10/12 — Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP
10/15 — Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
10/16 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Rockwell at The Complex
10/18 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
10/19 — Portland, OR @ Theater of the Clouds
10/21 — Vancouver, BC @ Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre
10/23 — Wheatland, CA @ Hard Rock Live
10/25 — San Diego, CA @ Viejas Arena
10/26 — Las Vegas, NV @ Michelob ULTRA Arena
10/29 — Phoenix, AZ @ Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
10/30 — Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum
11/02 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center

Los Angeles’ notoriously bad traffic is the result of myriad factors, but certainly one of the biggest contributors are the freeways…which often seem like they were designed by a toddler who hadn’t quite learned how to draw in a straight line yet.

Of course, these imperfections aren’t just aggravating, they’re downright dangerous. But the amount of planning and funding it takes to actually make improvements is a Herculean effort.

And yet, one street artist was able to do the impossible…on one of the most precarious freeways in the entire city, no less.

---

As you enter downtown Los Angeles (or DTLA), you’ll likely cross the Arroyo Seco Parkway, known best to Californians as the 110. Opened in 1940 by The California Department of Transportation, aka Caltrans, it is one of the oldest freeways in the US.

Keep in mind that the words “parkway” and “freeway” are used here. The 110 was initially designed for cars moving at a leisurely 40mph taking in the scenery. Since it ran through the heart of an ever growing DTLA, Caltrans added on-ramps and exits to it throughout the years.

Now, flash back to a time without GPS guiding our every move, and it becomes obvious how essential clear signage would be for the 110. Only, during the Y2K era…it wasn’t.

It was this lack of signage that in 2001 caused artist and sign painter Richard Ankrom to miss a tiny, two lane left turn exit onto the I-5 North, which abruptly pops up right after a tunnel. Basically, if you’re not already aware that you need to make this exit, you’ll miss it. Or worse, you’ll cut across several lanes to try to make it.

Ankrom decided to take matters into his own (very skilled) hands, and in what he called an act of “guerilla public service,” made his own exit sign. Of course, he made sure to do the job right, meticulously studying Caltrans’ colors, fonts, sizes, type of reflectors etc. In three months, he had a perfect copy made.

He secretly changed this freeway sign, helped millions of drivers

www.youtube.com

Ankrom was equally thorough while putting up the sign as well, purchasing a vest and hard hat to look like a bonafide city worker. He even stuck a fake logo onto his truck to avoid suspicion. As Ankrom’s team filmed him doing his thing, it really looked like just an everyday guy doing his everyday job. Banksy would be proud.

Ankrom would come clean about his guerilla public service eight months later, which ignited a media frenzy. Still, the artist received high praise, even from Caltrans, which shared plans of instituting his ideas officially. That would take eight more years to fulfill, but indeed, you can see the Caltrans’ version of Ankrom’s design to this day.

Though Ankrom’s story happened decades ago, it was recently shared once again by The Drive (video above), which had people commending Ankrom’s contributions all over again. A few could even recall the terrible times before his sign was created.

“As someone who regularly drove on the 110 in the 1990s, I can confirm that this artist is a hero.”

“I loved that sign. It always looked a little off. When I learned it was installed by a vandal, I thought it was amazing.”

“I HATED that transition. People would suddenly stop in the #2 lane so they could cut into it at the last moment, causing a lot of rear end collisions. That man is a hero.”

“I moved to LA near this sign in 2000 and I routinely was in the wrong lane because I wasn’t familiar with the directions. I did notice when the sign changed and at the time figured it was a routine correction! Bless this man.”

“The downfall of a society is when everyone says, ‘it’s not my job,’ and nothing ever gets done.”

Catch more of Ankrom’s art on Instagram.