Not since the Edward versus Jacob debate have people been as polarized as they were when a photo of a multi-colored dress broke the Internet.
Millions of social media users, including celebrities and politicians, activated their smartphones and laptops to weigh in on the dress’s colors. According to a Buzzfeed poll, more than two-thirds of voters saw white and gold while others saw black and blue. Some even claim to see blue and gold, though these accounts are less frequent.
Media outlets have since published stories behind the science of the photo, which has seen almost as much popularity and debate as the photo itself. Other pieces have focused on the photo’s inception and its original poster.
But underrepresented is the story of how this photo brought the global community together and how a single message can reach millions worldwide in moments.
In the first half hour of the debate, the photo had received over 500 shares and likes on Facebook, according to the New York Times.
In the first 18 hours its distribution, the company that created the dress, Roman Originals, had over a million hits on its sales site. Its design director, Michele Bastock, confirmed the color.
“I can officially say that this dress is royal blue with black lace trimming,” she told the New York Times.
Thousands of people were viewing the photo’s original posting on Tumblr at its peak in popularity. In a single moment, Buzzfeed had 670,000 people participating in its poll — a record for the news ?media company.
This was a worldwide phenomenon that took hold within hours. One minute Caitlin McNeill, the original poster, is uploading the image to Tumblr. The next minute, someone on every continent has seen this photo and asked the same question McNeill had: What color is this dress? Only moments later, a global debate erupted.
What’s more astounding than the statistics is the variety of people chiming in on the debate. The simplicity in arguing over the colors of a dress allowed everyone to weigh in indiscriminately. You didn’t have to pick up the newspaper every once in a while or go to an Ivy League school to argue that you saw blue where someone else saw white.
This simple photo of a dress allowed us to break free from the harsh realities we’re bombarded by in the news. It allowed us to argue a frivolous topic and forget our troubles.
Although momentary, that dress brought us together by turning us against each other. It’s rare to see so many people discuss one thing at one time, and it may have big implications for the future. Today we’re talking about a dress, but that dress could be global warming or wealth equality.
I could be wrong. “Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar,” my high school English teacher once told me. But I’d like to think this dress isn’t just ?a dress.
briseymo@indiana.edu
