Social Media...Bringing out the Madness in all of us

Honesty time. This was the first year I created a bracket for March Madness, and I did so solely because I suffer from FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). The tournament managed to creep its way onto my social media platforms, and whether or not I wanted to be, I was immersed in numerous conversations about the topic. #WarrenBuffett #SelectionSunday #MM. I couldn't stand not being able to contribute, so I absentmindedly filled out a bracket and unknowingly sold my soul. In just a few short hours, I had caught the Madness.

Reasons for the 2014 March Madness epidemic:

• The competition aspect: This is my personal favorite. Creating a bracket for the tournament allows viewers to have a personal stake in the games. They count the victories as their own and take the losses personally. 
• The social aspect: Ok, never mind, THIS is my personal favorite. My social media sites quickly became the perfect place to engage in a little trash talking, and I've always had a special place in my heart for some good verbal sparring. In addition, it was interesting to watch the Twitter ticker during the games. There would always be a spike in tweets after each incredible dunk, each questionable foul, each heartbreaking upset. It was like when you're at a party and everyone leaps up from the couch in awe or in agony...except it was with 241,000 of my closest friends, and I was doing homework instead of picking over party platters.
• The easily accessible aspect: I will always remember the Wichita State vs. Kentucky game. It was a turning point in the standings. The majority of my friends had Wichita State going all the way to the Final Four, so a win for Kentucky would send their brackets spiraling down into the pits of despair, which is exactly what I was hoping for. My boyfriend and I were almost home from out of town, and nothing was going to stop me from witnessing the epic upset...or so I thought...until we hit gridlock traffic. There was a moment of panic, but thanks to the NCAA March Madness Live app, we were still able keep up with game. It was the most fun I've ever had in a traffic jam...eating fried pickles from Sheetz and watching my boyfriend's face sink as he watched his team lose to mine.
• The fantasy aspect: We'll just leave it at this: Warren Buffett offering $1,000,000,000 to anyone with a perfect bracket certainly didn't discourage anybody from entering. #iwannabeabillionaire #sofreakinbad

PSA: Filling out a March Madness bracket will make you highly susceptible to mood swings. Social media will intensify these changes in behavior.

My March Madness emotional roller coaster:

• When Ohio State lost on Day 1 and my bracket was no longer perfect and I lost a billion dollars even though the billion was never actually mine it felt so attainable I felt like it was but then it was stripped away from me bringing a new meaning to the term "upset"...whoa. See? Madness.
• When I correctly picked 10 of the Sweet 16 teams and was sitting pretty atop my various groups, watching my friends' brackets crumble beneath me. This gave me the courage to start trash talking.

@RydenEli Still feel like being sweet? #mybracketisbetterthanyours
— Katherine Krajec (@kmkrajec) March 28, 2014 

• When Michigan State beat my champion, and I had to follow that tweet with this tweet less than 24 hours later. The excitement was short-lived. 

Well, there went my bracket!
— AJC UGA (@ajcuga) March 29, 2014

• When Florida lost and the rest of my friends' brackets were destroyed and even though I hadn't picked the champion, I could still sleep well at night knowing that I had never betrayed my school by rooting for the Gators. Y'all should be ashamed.

I'd like to close with this...who did these rankings and why was the championship game between a #7 and a #8 team? And whoever it was, can I sue them for $1,000,000,000?