In case you haven’t noticed or are unfamiliar with current trends in animal research, the guinea pig population is exploding. Experimentation on the guinea pig has been popular since the 17th century and is still used as the primary model for certain experiments over the more widely popular rodents such as mice and rats. That’s because mice and rats have been branded as, “dirty animals”. However, like any lab rat, we are being lured into reacting to various controlled experiments.

Today, social, digital, and neurosciences are taking behavioral studies to a whole new level and the subject is human. Brilliant scientists adept at the heuristic study of animal behaviors are learning what causes action, how we react to situations, and when we are most susceptible to influence when under the control of today’s most powerful drug — information. In fact, digital research is so pervasive we no longer know if we are the scientist or the test subject of the next breakthrough in advertising media.

We’re getting our fix from information in many ways, but unlike the actions associated with injections though a syringe, you may not be aware of its sting. Our information is being infused with individualized data that is being administered slowly over sophisticated networks like the phone and our lab results are appearing in forms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Pintrest.

According to a TechEdge article on CBNC.com, The future of advertising: Here’s what to expect, Dhara Ranasinghe mentions that spending on global mobile advertising is expected to rise to $72.3 billion by 2017, according to research firm Gartner. Some might say this practice is good for us because it allows for the administration of only the branded medication we asked for, but others argue that we don’t know what’s good for us, so we must be careful about what we ingest. Either way, we need to be aware of what’s going on around us so we remain healthy and well informed of environmental changes to avoid the threat of extinction though anonymity.

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