Yes, it happened, Facebook changed the noises triggered by receiving a notification of some sort. Right when we were all so comfortable with the cute *bliling* of an instant message or the brief high pitched *bum!* when someone commented or liked the same post as we did, Facebook had to be the dictators they are and change the noise. When I first heard the new soothing *blllloong* notifying me of an IM, I had absolutely no idea where it came from. I proceeded to search through my tabs frantically, trying to find the source of this alien noise. Until I came to Facebook and saw a little (1) on the tab, letting me know I had a new unread message. This got me thinking, after a friend mentioned how he didn't like the new noise, that the unique yet very similar noises our various social media applications make impacts our lives significantly.
Some popular social media and utility services these days include things like Facebook, Twitter, email, calendars, YouTube, various group chatting applications, Snapchat, music streaming services, texting, phone calls and many many more. All, if not most, of these applications have their own unique way of telling you what kind of information you just received. If on your phone it could be an audible ring or beep, or a vibration in a specific frequency. Text messages could be a quick double vibrate, while another application could be a short vibration. You know if you're getting a phone call if your phone will not stop vibrating in your pocket. Some phones will display a soft pulsing light to let you know what kind of multi media you have received. On my old phone, Facebook was a deep blue, texting a green, group messages a baby blue, Snapchat yellow, if emails were on they could be white, and low battery would be a red. There are some really rare ones too like a new video being uploaded to youtube or a new voicemail was just left (does anyone leaves those anymore?).
So now, I thought about how easy it is these days to know exactly who is trying to contact you based on what kind of notification you got. If you know your mom only emails or calls you, while the hip thing to do these days is use group messaging apps, then you know that notification you just got can wait a few more minutes.
Perhaps, one would be less inclined to check their phone or computer based on the type of notification they got. If you are waiting for some sweet Snapchats, and you feel your phone in your pocket lay out two long vibrations, you know you got a text message and not that nice snap. Or even worse, it could be an email, and you really didn't want to get one of those.
I imagine a sort of threshold, kind of like a loading bar, that while sitting in class or at work, would slowly fill up with each notification you get on your phone or computer, until it gets filled and you have to check your devices to see who is trying to contact you. Different notifications would have different levels of importance that would either fill the bar more or less.
Maybe we are truly slaves to the little pings vibrations and lights that corporations use to tell us that new things are going on or people want to contact you. We have no choice but to respond to them, because that's just how it works. That is why when Facebook changes the noise that its notifications make, it completely messes up our world. We have no idea what is going on or how to respond to this new foreign communication (as it goes off again as I type this). Although, we'll get used to it and will completely forget about it when the next notification sound is changed or another one is added.
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