![]() “I’m actually allergic to cats.The Internet phenomenon of watching cat videos, from Lil Bub to Grumpy Cat, does more than simply entertain it boosts viewers' energy and positive emotions and decreases negative feelings, according to a new study by an Indiana University Media School researcher. To really understand why we humans are so obsessed with cats online, we’re going to need more cats.īut while Myrick wants to pursue the studies, she’ll stay away from the real thing. ![]() There are multiple sub-genres: funny images, cute videos and emotional appeals for adoption being just a few. In the future, Myrick hopes to do just that experiment, as well as others that examine different types of pet-related content. But, she says “I’d prefer to see a study where actually showed participants cat content such that the ratings reflect participants immediate reactions.” “The conclusion that people feel better after viewing cute pets is pretty obvious,” says Anne Bartsch, who studies communications at the University of Munich. Because it was distributed organically - shared on popular cat sites and from cat lover to cat lover - Myrick notes, “it is not a random sample of the American population.” The respondents were also around 88 percent female and 90 percent Caucasian, making it even less representative.Īnd because the survey depended on recall, it can’t prove that cat videos really do increase happiness. ![]() It could work with cats or cars or Barbie dolls, anything people have an interest in.” “The cats themselves are inconsequential. “People are using to manipulate their moods, like morning coffee or talking to people at the water cooler,” Hinsch explains. But it’s likely that the cats are just one example of this phenomenon. In this case, it appears that people watch cat videos to manage their emotions, he says. People may turn to cats such as Maru to help manage their emotions. The original video of the bumbling cat “Maru” has received more than 21 million views. “But I think the understanding of what people are doing and the impact it has on them is important.” “My first thought is that was a joke,” says Chris Hinsch, who studies consumer behavior and marketing at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich. The results were published online June 12 in Computers in Human Behavior. If they were using the feline media to procrastinate from necessary duties, however, some of the enjoyment was tempered by a bit of guilt. And if a respondent associated fluffy features with positive emotions, they tended to watch more cat content to generate some warm fuzzy feelings. But regardless of how the kitty content was found, most people reported feeling more positive emotions, such as hope and happiness, after a good cat gif or three. Instead, almost 75 percent of the time, viewers stumbled across cat-related content on social media platforms such as Facebook. Most of the time, people weren’t intentionally seeking out the sweet catnip. People were more likely to view our furry friends if they owned or had previously owned a cat, and of course, if they actually liked cats. The average respondent took in kitty content somewhere between daily and two to three times per week. The survey spread over the Internet from cat site to cat site and, with a boost from the Facebook page of the popular cat personality “ Lil BUB,” received 6,795 useful replies. Myrick sent a survey in October 2014 to the cat lovers of the Internet, asking how often they viewed cat videos and images and how they recalled feeling before and after their most recent viewing. There’s so much of this content out there. “I saw some news story online about how there’s an Internet Cat Festival where people go in person to watch cat videos,” she recalls. For Jessica Myrick, a media psychology researcher at Indiana University in Bloomington, they have another draw - their ubiquity. But they can also be a vehicle through which we lift our moods and interact with friends. ![]() Cat videos may be the essence of Internet frivolity.
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