What Is Your State Of Mind On Election Day?

November 4, 2008 5:04 AM

People All Over The World, Ride The Word Train! The Word Train! This is a neato thingy on the NY Times front page where you can enter a word that describes your mood on election day and compare with others. Best thing is you can change your word every 30 minutes. Next best thing - changing your word every 30 minutes might get your Virginia-baked ham away from the television/Internet/porcelain throne/medicine cabinet/gun closet while the election roars on....
posted by Lipstick Thespian (31 comments total)

This is really cool. Except choosing a candidate doesn't seem to change the word pool. Perhaps the entire electorate feels about the same, but a) that seems doubtful and b) I didn't notice the candidate option until after I submitted my word. So probably the filter isn't working the way it should.
posted by DU at 5:12 AM on November 4, 2008

It would be a lot more interesting if they didn't have a wordlist to choose from.
posted by headnsouth at 5:17 AM on November 4, 2008

DU, a lot of that might be due to the use of the drop-down menu. People using that are choosing from the same word list regardless of candidate.
posted by Miko at 5:24 AM on November 4, 2008

Drop down menu? I can click on the words and have it populate my box (I discovered eventually) but there's no menu.
posted by DU at 5:28 AM on November 4, 2008

I'd like to know what the people who are McCain supporters who picked "Victorious" are thinking. My suspicion is it's "Damn new fangled internet thing! I can never find my programs on here".
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 5:33 AM on November 4, 2008 [1 favorite]

I hope 4Chan doesn't discover this.
posted by Science! at 5:34 AM on November 4, 2008 [2 favorites]

imood.com does something similar doesn't it? At least it did before it shut down and reopened with 1% of its users remembering it was there.

So it says the Internet is feeling 'anxious' right now. Which makes a change from 'tired'.
posted by randomination at 5:36 AM on November 4, 2008

Uh, you can just type a word into that first box you know.

As an Obama supporter I'm kind of weary of all this. No, let's say I'm bushed.

But not for much longer.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 5:38 AM on November 4, 2008 [3 favorites]

so its like facebook, but much worse?
posted by yonation at 5:56 AM on November 4, 2008 [1 favorite]

One of the McCain-supporter words was "disinterested."
*tries to stifle snicker*
posted by Menomena at 5:59 AM on November 4, 2008

Wait, "disinterested" is one of the drop-down menu words. Surely a prestigious newspaper would know the difference between "disinterested" and "uninterested"?
posted by Menomena at 6:08 AM on November 4, 2008

"Type a word" or "Select a Word."

"Select a word" is a drop-down menu.
posted by Miko at 6:08 AM on November 4, 2008

Apparently, I'm the only "aroused" Obama supporter in the world. Which is surprisingly, frankly.
posted by saladin at 6:11 AM on November 4, 2008

Oh I see, it says "Type a word or" and then a big blank. The menu must be there but broken on my machine. Which also explains why I can't say who I support.

My mood is: FAIL
posted by DU at 6:13 AM on November 4, 2008

I entered "Eponysterical". That should confuse them a bit...
posted by DreamerFi at 6:16 AM on November 4, 2008 [1 favorite]

Whew. I was trying to think of a sentence to describe how I feel, but that made my brain hurt. I like choose word. Very easy. Me hungry go eat now.
posted by alidarbac at 6:28 AM on November 4, 2008

Exhausted. Definitely exhausted.
posted by abc123xyzinfinity at 6:51 AM on November 4, 2008

Gun closet? What kind of idiot doesn't have a gun room?
posted by trondant at 7:09 AM on November 4, 2008

Drunk. Hey, it's 5pm somewhere, amirite?
posted by mcstayinskool at 7:22 AM on November 4, 2008

i notice one of the 9:00am words favored by McCain supporters is "disenfranchised." and it's not even one of the drop-down options.

ha!

wait wait, let me try again.

HAH-ha!
posted by wreckingball at 7:51 AM on November 4, 2008

DU: "This is really cool. Except choosing a candidate doesn't seem to change the word pool. Perhaps the entire electorate feels about the same, but a) that seems doubtful and b) I didn't notice the candidate option until after I submitted my word. So probably the filter isn't working the way it should."

When you select the McCain or Obama tabs at the upper-right, it causes the newest words that scoot onto the screen to be red or blue, respectively.

It's pretty telling, really.

McCain supporters: disappointed, scared, powerless
Obama supporters: hopeful, proud, FUCK-YES

Alright, I made that last one up. But it feels right, dunnit?
posted by Rhaomi at 8:08 AM on November 4, 2008 [1 favorite]

Right, the words are color coded. Bloods or Crips?
posted by fixedgear at 8:29 AM on November 4, 2008

Hell yeah, we can!
posted by stet at 8:39 AM on November 4, 2008

I'm surprised more people aren't "tired".
posted by csteelatgburg at 8:46 AM on November 4, 2008

Wow, randomination. I forgot all about iMood. I remember going to that site and finding it funny that the internet's mood was always "tired." Except for 9/11, when it was "sad."
posted by roll truck roll at 9:19 AM on November 4, 2008

Wait, "disinterested" is one of the drop-down menu words. Surely a prestigious newspaper would know the difference between "disinterested" and "uninterested"?

As a Canadian, I'm more or less disinterested. But I'm far from being uninterested.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 9:45 AM on November 4, 2008

When you select the McCain or Obama tabs at the upper-right...

Right, I get that and that part is working. But if I submit a word (which only works via typing) I can't indicate if it's an M word or an O word.

Screenshot that shows both the bugs I'm describing AND the balance of the feelings.
posted by DU at 10:30 AM on November 4, 2008

transmorgified!
posted by TomSophieIvy at 11:37 AM on November 4, 2008

DU, it looks like your page isn't loading properly. You're missing some elements that I'm seeing.
posted by Miko at 11:47 AM on November 4, 2008

How do you think I feel? Betrayed, bewildered...
posted by kirkaracha at 2:21 PM on November 4, 2008

Are the McCain supporters still feeling sassy?
posted by delmoi at 5:24 AM on November 5, 2008