"The Future Looks Viral" is a weekly series where we profile the people behind an innovative, new online project, be it a parody Twitter account, web series or artsy Instagram profile. They all have one thing in common: the potential to go viral.
All too often, the Internet has proven to be not such a nice place. Between an endless stream of depressing news and aggressive comments from randos on Twitter, we all get the urge to just turn off our computers, crawl into a fetal position and escape from it all for a little while.
However, as we become ever more reliant on the Internet to perform our daily routines, going completely off the grid probably isn't a realistic option for most of us. Luckily, not every corner of the Internet is so bad. Some places may even make you feel better about yourself.
One of those is the Compliment Machine, a simple and sleek webpage that randomly generates compliments for you with just the click of your mouse. The compliments that pop up range from what you would normally tell a person in public ("Your hair looks great.") to the profound ("Your every thought and motion contributes to the beauty of the universe.") to the funny ("You're warmer than a Snuggie.")
The simplicity of this tool is a refreshing break from the usual noise of the Internet, not to mention it's always nice to be complimented, even if you do know that the pleasantries are coming from a computer. Plus, reading these compliments can help you think more optimistically, which research says can significantly benefit your health.
As simple as the Compliment Machine looks, it was about as simple to create. Austin Fernald built and launched the site in just a few hours on Jan. 11 as a way of passing the time on a rainy Sunday at his home in San Clemente, Calif. Fernald, a real estate appraiser and freelance web developer and designer, wanted a way to express his "feels," or "compliments with more meaning to them," to his girlfriend.
"I generally have a hard time saying them out loud when she puts me on the spot, so I thought I would make the Compliment Machine as a way of expressing them without doing it verbally," Fernald said in an interview with T-Lounge via email. "I also felt like other people would enjoy a compliment once in a while as well, since it is always nice to feel like you are loved, albeit by a computer."
Fernald even wrote some of the compliments on the site based on what he would tell his girlfriend in real life. I know, I know. That probably wants to make you either say "Awww" or puke. Let's hope it's the former, because this is not about being cynical, remember? The rest of the approximately 150 to 200 compliments the site generates come from this compliment list on the blog People Are Nice.
Who knows? We may even be seeing a real-life Compliment Machine in the future. Fernald said he would like to see the Compliment Machine on the checkout counters of places like art or novelty stores. It would work similarly to the compliment machine created by artist-inventor Tom Greaves in 2007, which was an art project in Washington, D.C. that continuously played an MP3 of compliments to passersby. However, Fernald sees his Compliment Machine as working more like one of those machines from which you pull a number, like when you're waiting in line at the deli.
But for now, Fernald is just enjoying seeing others get enjoyment out of his little project.
"I hope people get warm, tingly, good feelings of love and acceptance," Fernald said. "But people probably just get a little bit of humor and a short amount of entertainment out of it."
Well either way, the Compliment Machine is sure to make you feel good.
