Cuprins
This can be treated as you like, but photos and videos with cats and cats confidently top all ratings of the popularity of Internet content. Especially on cloudy days.
Source of positive emotions
For most “consumers”, viewing cat photos and videos improves mood and reduces negative experiences. Psychologist Jessica Myrick came to these conclusions by studying the reaction of users to images of cats on the Internet.1. She even suggested the term cat-related media consumption (which, apparently, should be translated as “cat-related media consumption”). She found that viewing cat photos and videos improves mood and reduces negative feelings.
“Cats have big eyes, expressive muzzles, they combine grace and clumsiness. For most people, this seems cute, — psychologist Natalia Bogacheva agrees. “Even those who don’t like cats make claims about their character rather than their appearance.”
The tool of procrastination
The Internet helps in work, but it also helps to do nothing, indulging in procrastination. “Even if we do not avoid business, but want to relax, learn something new or have fun, we risk spending more time than we expected,” says Natalia Bogacheva. “Bright pictures and short videos activate the mechanisms of involuntary attention: you don’t need to focus on them, they attract the eye on their own.”
We strive to gain popularity in the online community by posting pictures and videos of our pets.
Cats are unrivaled in this regard, as Jessica Myrick’s research confirms: only a quarter of the 6800 respondents specifically look for images of cats. The rest see them by chance — but they can no longer tear themselves away.
fructul Interzis
Many of the users interviewed by Jessica Myrick admitted that admiring cats instead of doing important and necessary things, they are aware that they are not doing too well. However, this awareness, paradoxically, only enhances the pleasure of the process. But why paradoxical? The fact that the forbidden fruit is always sweet has been well known since biblical times.
Self-fulfilling prophecy effect
We want to not only see in-demand content, but also become famous through it. “In an effort to gain popularity in the Internet community, many participate in mass trends by posting pictures and videos of their pets,” says Natalia Bogacheva. “So with regard to cats, there is a self-fulfilling prophecy effect: trying to join a popular topic, users make it even more popular.”
1 J. Myrick «Emotion regulation, procrastination, and watching cat videos online: Who watches Internet cats, why, and to what effect?», Computers in Human Behavior, November 2015.