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Pokemon Go Is Influencing Where People Eat, Shop, And Live

Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Pokemon Go is the latest proof that you can make people interested in anything, even walking, as long as you stick Pikachu in there. The game has introduced the concept of augmented reality to the general public, encouraging players to go outside and visit their local museum, park, or megachurch three towns over in order to play.

CBS Minnesota"The Lord comMANDS that this Jigglypuff climb INTO the ball! And the Jigglypuff shall, for only one can truly catch them all, and that one is the LAWWWD."

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Pinterest Makes Users More Likely To Be Anti-Vaccination

Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images

Pinterest is the social media network completely dedicated to online scrapbooking, if scrapbooking entailed drunkenly staring at other people's perfectly manicured nails at 4 in the morning. Yes, compared to other social media platforms, Pinterest can easily claim the title of "least incendiary" by a wide margin. Also, Pinterest has a unique following among social networking sites -- its user base is 85 percent female, and according to the Pew Research Center, 40 percent of mothers who use the internet are on Pinterest -- primarily newer moms between the ages of 20 and 29. It's basically Eat, Pray, Love: The App. But there's also a dark side to this maternally nurturing environment. A study conducted at Virginia Commonwealth University found that, based on a sample of 800 pins (images) about vaccinations, 75 percent contained clear anti-vaccination sentiments. Even more baffling: 21.5 percent of these pins accuse the government and the pharmaceutical industries at large of mass conspiracy.

PinterestOnly educated Pinners realize a few cell lines from 40 years ago are apparently the same thing as mass baby genocide.

Not that Pinterest is built to attract anti-vaxxers. It has simply become a breeding ground for creating new ones. Research shows that new parents are incredibly susceptible to becoming anti-vaccination merely by reading anti-vaccination rhetoric for no more than five to 10 minutes -- or your average bathroom break. And while pro-vaccination users prefer to combat this phenomenon with facts and common sense, the anecdotal, nonfactual nature of anti-vaxxers has been found to be more effective when influencing uninformed parties.

KatarzynaBialasiewicz / iStockThere's more shit on the screen than in the bowl.

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Tinder Ruins Your Self-Esteem, Especially If You're A Man

Tinder

The beauty of Tinder's online dating mechanic lies in its simplicity. Swipe left for "no thank you," right for two tickets on the bone train to Pound Town -- or, y'know, a healthy and stable relationship. This quick and easy method takes a lot of bitterness and insecurity out of the dating game. At least, that's would happen if a lot of members weren't insulted several times a day for not responding to some dudes' dick pics. That can be very damaging for your self-esteem (for both parties).

KristinaJovanovic / iStockFor her, a violated sense of privacy. For him, he could hear her laughter for miles.

A study conducted by scientists at the University of North Texas confirmed that Tinder is a great way for single people to feel terrible about themselves. Turns out that having a bunch of people physically flicking your picture off their smartphone screen so they never have to look at you again is bad for your sense of self-worth. Even though the app was designed to make dating more safe and fun, most female Tinder users feel less satisfaction with their bodies and physical attractiveness when directly compared with non-users. But even though the experiment was initially designed to focus on female Tinder users, statistics revealed that both genders experience a significant level of body dissatisfaction after extended Tinder usage. If Tinder were a drug, it would come with a label warning users of acute dysmorphia, blurry vision, and delusions of photogenic genitalia.

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Taking Instagram Pictures Really DOES Make Your Food Taste Better

DeanDrobot / iStock

Instagram is the reason we all know what our friends would look like if they'd gotten their picture taken with a crappy camera from the '60s. But even on this Mecca for the self-involved, there's still a social media caste that is universally reviled by everyone: people who take pictures of their food. Even restaurants are getting in on the foodie hate, banning people from taking photos of their food by claiming it's an irritation and distraction for other patrons. Which is their loss, because scientifically speaking, no one enjoys their food more than someone who has just documented it for all their social media followers.

Amanda Kooser / CNET Few things are more appetizing than trolling your friends about how you're eating and they're not.

Multiple studies have found that taking pictures of your food with Instagram does make the food taste better. Researchers from the Journal of Consumer Marketing claim that the act of sharing photos of your food significantly enhances the flavor and taste, after you've put the phone down and gotten around to eating it. After all, everyone deserves to get the best culinary experience their Hefe filter can muster.

Instagram / Mashable It's not delivery, it's deceptive.

The science behind it? One study cites the momentary active delay in consuming your food, which increases the length of time you savor it. Those few extra mouthwatering moments of anticipation have an impact on the flavor of your lunch. Another study shows that ritualized behavior makes food more flavorful and savory, and there's nothing more ritualistic than staring at your food through the lens of your camera and then letting it sit there as you dutifully type in a bunch of hashtags. Indeed, Foodstagramming might prove to be the greatest spice in history. We'll soon be at war with Spain over it.

Last Halloween, the Cracked Podcast creeped you out with tales of ghost ships, mysteriously dead people, and a man from one of the most famous paintings in U.S. history who years later went all Jack Nicholson in The Shining on his family. This October, Jack and the Cracked staff are back with special guest comedians Ryan Singer, Eric Lampaert, and Anna Seregina to share more unsettling and unexplained true tales of death, disappearance, and the great beyond. Get your tickets for this LIVE podcast here!

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