Professional Documents
Culture Documents
from Thankfulfor.com
November, 2010
2010 Gratitude Index
Overview
In September 2009, the site Thankfulfor.com launched, inviting people from around
the world to create a personal gratitude journal that could be private or openly
shared with the community. Over the past year, thousands of people have done so
- from across the US, Italy, Japan, Brazil and beyond. The vast majority kept their
posts open to the public. Many also broadcast those gratitude posts on their social
networks (Twitter, Facebook) and their personal blogs.
The Thankfulfor team started seeing interesting trends in the data, and decided to
create a report. Taking a sample of twenty five thousand anonymized entries, they
enlisted the help of Crowdflower.com, which enabled individuals around the world
to help analyze each post and essentially tag them for their topic(s). Ultimately the
content fell into 42 different themes. Each journal entry was cross checked and
agreed upon by at least three individuals.
The team used the data to create the 2010 Gratitude Index. On the following
pages, you'll see some top level data, a more granular breakdown, and a selection
of posts taken from the "public stream of thanks" within the community to
illustrate the posts. All of the visual illustrations were created by DC-based
creative agency JESS3.
About Thankfulfor
Thankfulfor.com is a micro-journaling site that asks journal-keepers the simple
question: What are you thankful for? Users can post their answers in up to 500
characters (with a photo), and save each item to their personal "gratitude journal"
for private consumption or to share in the "public stream of thanks". Social users
can send each Thankfulfor post to their social networks on Facebook and Twitter,
spreading the good vibes far and wide.
Like the popular site PostSecret, Thankfulfor encourages the most personal of
posts. There is something slightly voyeuristic about reading through the "public
stream of thanks", yet unlike the posts at PostSecret which are often sad or even
worse, the posts at Thankfulfor range from funny to uplifting, inspiring and
extremely touching.
NOTE:
3.36% of posts could not be understood or clearly defined (thus tagged "other")
8.17% of posts were written in other languages and not translated for content
People
45.19%
Within the People category, friends topped the list, but
family was a close second. "People" also included
random people who crossed paths, good samaritans,
volunteers, teammates, American soldiers, medical
professionals, teachers, celebrities and others (even a
few politicians). Over 45% of all the entries sampled
expressed gratitude for someone.
Self, Experiences
19.31%
Our second broad category included posts that
referenced some type of personal experience or things
that referenced "self". Almost 20% of posts included the
description of some life experience including enjoyment
of holidays, personal opportunities, new experiences, or
things like the ability to do something, courage, resolve,
memories, inner strength, accomplishments, talents,
intuition, good or improving health, intelligence,
intuition, resilience, and much more.
Activities
13.21%
Following things, are specific activities such as
learning, going to school, taking vacation, traveling,
playing sports, good times, downtime, exercise and
probably the most popular - getting sleep! People
are extremely thankful for a good night of sleep.
Nature
9.85%
At just under 10% of all posts, is nature. While we
were tempted to include pets with "family", we
decided to group pets with other elements of the
natural world such as wild animals, trees, flowers,
beaches, oceans, lakes, the planet, stars, seasons,
weather and water.
Money/Job
7.52%
While money seems to dominate much of our
collective conversation, this category, which includes
posts about money, jobs and work, comes in at ninth
place. People are thankful for their jobs, meaningful
work and money to pay their bills, buy gifts, help
others and more.
Foreign Language
817%
We’ve been very fortunate to have a global audience,
and as such, have over 8% of our posts in other languages.
We think these posts probably break down into similar
categories as listed above.
Other
3.36%
As with any large body of data, you’re sure to get a certain
percent that isn’t easily understood or doesn’t fall cleanly
into specific categories. This bucket captures “everything
else”.
Zach and Jake calling me last night to get out of bed and have dinner
with them. Just when I needed them to grab me most.....they did.
wonderful customers
Tim for digging me out of the snow. Richard for letting me park in his
driveway.
the colleague who went out and got me half and half and an
awesome new york bagel.
Visiting with my Uncle. holding his hand, feeding him. Thank you for
this opportunity.
Tomato! I ate a fresh tomato for lunch it was so sweet, tasty and juicy!
Raspberry and chocolate tea lattes, which make even the crappiest
morning seem a little sweeter.
To get a $250 bonus this year!! That's a lot of money right now.
Today I'm thankful that I can wear a summer dress and see budding
leaves in the beginning of April!
Thunderstorms!
This crazy wind! It's blowing all the leaves out of my yard, lol!
spotting a huge violet butterfly flitting in & out of the sun while
walking in the woods with my dog
to be alive and get another day to challenge the self imposed walls in
front of me !!
remembering that a possibility was born on the day that i was born
my lime green evil eye bracelet. It works wonders. God is good and
*looking* out for us!
the massage from the lady who washed my hair before the haircut.
It's those details that make me feel so good!
the experiences I've had, both good and bad. They have made me
stronger, smarter and satisfied.
Lady Gaga music and the supernatural way it brings out the dance.
Taking my boys to see my grandmother and the fact that she is here,
finally. A solo drive to the store. All of God's blessings - what a good
life.
That I quit smoking and I know I can make many other positive
choices.
that I am who I am
That God hasn't given up on me, and that He is the God of second,
third, forth, etc. chances!
my mom recovering from her stroke. She now feels good enough to
venture a road trip and she will be here tomorrow.
the unconditional love that my mom gives all of us each and EVERY
day
the love i'm feeling from others… certainly need it right now. hoping i
can spread it, too. #compassion
Skype. What a nifty invention. Thank you to the people who thought it
up!
http://www.google.com
My big beautiful old brick victorian house - even if her pipes are
frozen and she has no water.
Living in a beautiful home in the woods where big oak and walnut
trees abound, where squirrels tease Stella, and where deer slide down
the hill every morning.
Our beautiful, but cozy home because its filled with love.
All the parrots coming to sing in the tree and say goodbye. And the
lightning bugs on the porch, I've never seen so many before!
the slobbery licks from my dog that woke me better than any alarm
clock this morning
Trader Joes
my new gym
I'm grateful that I can get a chance to live in USA and become a
citizen of USA!
the nap I was able to take when I got home from work.
inspirational people, who as you get to know them better and hear
their stories, are even more inspirational...
thankful for beautiful living things coloring my world
the inspiration that surrounds us everyday, you just have open your
eyes and look around.
SKYDIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday brunch
big italian dinners and wine with great friends and lots of laughter.
Glee Glee Glee Glee Glee Glee Glee. Can't stop thinking about it.
The Oprah show about texting & driving - I will not ever do it again.
this thankforfor site, which makes us all realize just how good life
really is.
the posts in Thankfulfor today - such a great range from fun to full on
inspiring - sniff sniff. Thank you everyone!
Music, it transports me back to, bad times, good times, sad times and
love times
For the last two years. I can't believe it's over. But it was amazing.
The Catcher in the Rye. Holden Caulfield, please be real and marry
me.
thankful for trips on planes when they actually are on time and
everything goes smoothly...
Delta's upbeat flight crews after their 18-hour days, and our 13
hours flights/delays.
Service/Helping Others
The opportunity to be of service.
That my sister is safe and that she has such great friends to take
care of her in her time of need.
Thankful that my husband has the week off and for a mini-vacay to a
b&b in wine country. And so thankful for a wonderful mother-in-law
who is hanging out with the boys so we can get away.
4 more days until vacation..... Pacific Ocean, sand, warm weather, lots
of sunshine, 70 degree temps...
The Friday after Thanksgiving and a day to do as I chose all day long !
Friday night was a fabulous evening out on the town with family
celebrating my wife's birthday...
Fridays...enough said.
warm showers! and a house with heat, power, food, and water!
To have fresh clean water whenever I want, which is sadly not the
case for most of the world.
that there's cold, fresh water coming out of a tap where I live. I take
all of these things for granted, even though they are miracles.
peaceful Sundays
our ability to quietly go to the inner well of peace and come back
with focus and inspiration, at pretty much anytime. ❀
peace in my soul.
favorites.
this glorious Thursday. We're one day closer to Friday and that's
Thankfulfor Thursdays!
The fall harvest from our garden and Wednesday night Farmer's
Market. . .yum!!
sunny Wednesday!
経済的に以前より余裕がある 時間にも 心にも
穏やかな休日の朝のひととき
todas las oportunidades que Dios me ha dado en este dia de ser util
con mi trabajo y arte
saber o que sei, e saber que tenho que aprender muito mais ainda!
por la vida
Notes
All quotes in this report were taken from the Public Stream of
Thanks on Thankfulfor.com. Posts are shown as they were
posted with attribution removed for privacy purposes.
Special Thanks
To all the members of the Thankfulfor community. Your words
are a daily inspiration.