There’s a reason so many memories with computers are blue. Blue is the color of imposed calm. Blue demands conscious calm in spite of what the blue-colored thing is doing to you. From social media and word processors, to company logos and web standards, shades of blue are keeping you passively awake.

The human readable name for #6666FF is medium slate blue. That sounds exactly like the kind of color that should drench Word and MySpace although they do not use this specific hue. No matter. Its fine. Be Medium Slate Blue about it. Blues of all shades have some calming qualities although the powdery blues, according Sherwin Williams’ director of color marketing, calms us the best.

Blue light also has the power to shift the circadian rhythms of a wide range of animals, including humans. Blue light suppresses melatonin and increases heart rates. The late night writing in Word, the sleepless nights after a breakup rearranging your top 8. These are all moments where we are blue-shifted into more machine-available selves. Work and play, procrastination and worry, they all wash together in blue gradients. Its okay though. Be #6666FF about it.

David A. Banks (@da_banks) is an editor for Cyborgology and a Theorizing the Web Committee member.