14 DAY TRIAL // The fact that cats are the ultimate rulers of the online world is not exactly breaking news. Lil Bub, Grumpy Cat, Colonel Meow - they are all insanely famous, and folks seem unable to get enough of their quirky gaze and flawlessly disheveled look.
What's interesting is that, according to a recent study authored by researcher Jessica Gall Myrick at the Indiana University Media School, there is a perfectly scientific explanation for why people seem to love and adore cat videos.
Apparently, watching cats doing, well, cat stuff almost instantly boosts energy levels while at the same time promoting positive emotions and decreasing negative feelings. Plainly put, there's nothing like a cat video to put guys and gals in a good mood.
Further, the Indiana University Media School scientist argues that, simply by perking up their mood, chances are that cat videos boost people's productivity levels and help them make it through an otherwise hard day at the office.
“Even if they are watching cat videos on YouTube to procrastinate or while they should be working, the emotional pay-off may actually help people take on tough tasks afterward,” researcher Jessica Gall Myrick explains in a recent interview.
How cat videos affect people's mood
In her paper in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, Jessica Gall Myrick details that, as part of her investigation into how watching cat videos affects human mood and behavior, she surveyed around 7,000 volunteers.
The study participants, of which 36% identified themselves as cat lovers, were asked questions about how cat videos made them feel. The majority reported feeling more energetic and more positive, experiencing less anxiety or sadness.
True, those in the habit of watching cat videos while at work or while supposedly studying admitted to also experiencing some guilt on account of their procrastinating rather than doing what they were supposed to do.
Even so, it looks like the pleasure of watching cats being cats totally outweighed this guilt. In fact, cat videos were found to do such a good job putting people in a good mood that researcher Jessica Gall is considering using them as a form of therapy.
As for why anyone would waste their time researching how cat videos affect people, the Indiana University Media School specialist says that it makes sense given their popularity.
“If we want to better understand the effects the Internet may have on us as individuals and on society, then researchers can’t ignore Internet cats anymore,” she points out in an interview.
Cat videos really are crazy popular online
Recently released figures show that, just last year, well over 2 million cat videos were shared by people on YouTube. Together, these videos ranked up nearly 26 billion views.
This means that, per video, cat videos landed more views than any of the other categories of YouTube content. That's a whole lot of people made happy by these furry life companions of ours.
