Cat content

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cat Content (also: Cats content ) is a mainly to the realm of popular culture Counted Internet phenomenon . The term is a sham Anglicism and literally means “cat content”. In the English-speaking world, however, the term "cat content" is not widespread. There they speak of "cats on the internet".

Detail: Francisco de Goya : Don Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuñiga . Oil on canvas, 1787, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cat content refers to the numerous pictures and other representations of cats on the Internet . Offers with and about cats can be found in news articles, cat memes, and videos. In a broader sense, the area of ​​cat content includes not only digital representations of cats, but also those in print media , television, films, books, as well as in the visual arts and in the field of consumption . Cats are generally believed to play a major role in public. They are considered to be particularly widespread on the global Internet. Cat content is currently particularly important on social media platforms .

Since the beginning of the 2010s, cat content and its mass reception has received increasing attention in science and also in the popular culture itself that spawned it. However, the question of the impact on humans of frequent use of the Internet to view cat content has only aroused the interest of current scientific research since the mid-2010s.

history

Cats have played a role in art, mythology, and literature for thousands of years. In ancient times, in the Egyptian city of Bubastis ( ancient Greek Βούβαστις ) at the sanctuary of Bastet , a goddess with a friendly creature, whose sacred animal was the cat and who was represented as a cat, an exuberant festival was celebrated annually with great joy large crowds flocked from all over the country. The philosopher Michel de Montaigne was already thinking about the relationship between cats and humans in the 16th century and asked the question "If I play with my cat, how do I know that it isn't playing with me?" After a checkered history of cats and humans, pictures of cats became popular in art, especially from the mid-19th century. Literature since the 19th century has also taken up the cat. For example, Kater Murr is known at ETA Hoffmann . Other authors mentioned in connection with cats are Lewis Carroll , TS Eliot , Edgar Allan Poe , Doris Lessing , Charles Baudelaire , Michail Bulgakow and James Joyce . For the influential anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss , exchanging gazes with a cat was a key moment. He finished his main work, Sad Tropics , in the 1950s with the hope that humans would recognize their essence in the gaze between cat and human: “In the gaze - heavy with patience, cheerfulness and mutual forgiveness - which sometimes allows an involuntary agreement to be exchanged with one Cat."

The pioneers in the field of cat content are the British photographer Harry Pointer , who photographed cats in clothing as early as 1870 and provided the photos with comments, Harry Whittier Frees , who began with cat content in 1906 by putting a hat on his family's cat and one Photographed, but also Walter Chandoha , who photographed cats from 1949.

Cat video fans have cited fin de siècle cat videos as precursors, for example Étienne-Jules Marey's La Chute du chat (1894), William KL Dickson's Boxing Cats (1894), Louis Lumières La Petite fille et son chat (1899) and George Albert Smith's Sick Kitten (1901). However, these comparisons can also be described as anachronistic .

It is discussed whether Frank the Cat was the first internet cat. It was first posted on the internet in 1994 and was originally an ordinary cat with ordinary actions. What is certain is that "Meowchat" was created in newsgroups in 1995 , a group in which users imitated a kind of cat language. This moment is considered formative for the Internet, with the beginnings of which cats are also associated. Towards the end of the 1990s, the trend developed to put cats on a photocopier, to scan them and to publish the images created in this way on the Internet. The beginning of user-generated content can be seen in this action . In this context, cat content is seen as a factor in the emergence of social media such as Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .

The first cat on the video portal YouTube , founded in 2005, was "Pajamas", which was owned by YouTube co-founder Steve Chen .

A cat looking through bread.

Starting in 2006, Lolcats became known through the blog "I Can Has Cheezburger". In a short time the blog developed into an economically flourishing company. Keyboard Cat was filmed back in 1984, but only became known in 2007. Other famous cats on the Internet are Grumpy Cat , Maru , Surprised Kitty and Henri, le Chat Noir , who is considered an existentialist cat.

Global situation

News about cats is received internationally, for example a report from the Russian cat Mascha, who is said to have saved an infant from freezing to death. Cats even have their own user accounts on Twitter and Instagram. By the search engine giant Google LLC designed artificial intelligence that can learn independently on the Internet, developed around 2012, quickly became experts on cats because they panelist as a relevant topic cats due to their frequent occurrence on the Internet. In 2018 there were over two million cat videos on YouTube, which were viewed around two billion times.

Situation in the Federal Republic of Germany

According to the Federal Network Agency , animal images accounted for around 30 percent of data traffic in the Federal Republic of Germany in 2016 . Cat pictures accounted for 62 percent of this traffic.

Numerous universities in Germany feel connected to cats on their campus. Universities with a cat are the University of Konstanz , the University of Freiburg , the University of Augsburg and the University of Hildesheim and the University of Bayreuth .

An image of a curious cat.

Sociological Aspects

The social structure of the special relationship between animals and humans can be understood under the aspect of the concept of intimacy in the sociologist Niklas Luhmann, who understood intimacy as "interpersonal interpenetration ". In addition, the technical conditions and animal actors such as cats interact with one another. Intimacy is conveyed technically. This is why the term “Internet of Animals” is used based on the phrase “ Internet of Things ”. Cat Content also works well in mobile use of the Internet and is generally understood across all national and language borders.

Importance of cat content for political discourse

According to a media science theory, Cat Content promotes and enables Internet activism . Users who do not want to be politically active on the Internet also come across topics of political discourse when looking for entertainment .

Cat Content draws attention to other content even according to current communication studies studies and does not necessarily distract from topics that are generally judged to be more important. Political content framed by cheerful topics such as cat content is even more intensely perceived and processed.

It is widely believed that the charm of videos of cats transcends class, gender and nationality.

Grumpy Cat.

criticism

Occasionally, the effects on animals are also underestimated. This can keep a cat afraid of a cucumber from its feeding place. Some situations shown in cat videos can be stressful for cats and should be avoided.

A Lolcat picture in "I'm in ur ..." format.

Psychological theories on cuteness

From a psychological point of view, one reason Cat Content is so successful is the child schema . The phenomenon of cat content is also related to contemporary media use and the associated sometimes shorter attention spans: it can be consumed in small sections to lighten the mood. In psychology, this behavior is compared to eating a small piece of candy . The emotional response to cuteness has only recently become the focus of research attempting to find terms for the emotional perception of cuteness. Cuteness evokes a social-relational emotion that can be described as "moved", "touched" and "heartwarming". This emotion is a loving sharing that is characterized by trust and unity.

Health hazards

The effects of internet cat consumption on human emotional states are discussed further in the present. Viewing cat media online can improve the viewer's emotional state. Recent research suggests that there may also be negative outcomes associated with using the Internet to view cat content by promoting procrastination . According to studies, different personality types respond differently to these relationships.

A study has shown that viewing non-adult cats judged to be cute can increase productivity and that actions are performed more carefully after viewing such photos.

See also

literature

  • Edith Podhovnik: The Meow Factor - An Investigation of Cat Content in Today's Media . In: Proceedings of the Arts & Humanities Conference 3806257 . International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences. 2016, ISBN 978-80-87927-24-3 , doi : 10.20472 / AHC.2016.001.013 (English).
  • Ina Bolisnski: Cat Content. On the intimacy of the human-pet relationship in digital media . In: Journal for Media Studies . tape 8 , no. 2 , 2016, p. 73-82 , doi : 10.25969 / mediarep / 1903 .
  • Jessica Gall Myrick: Emotion regulation, procrastination, and watching cat videos online . Who watches Internet cats, why, and to what effect? In: Computers in Human Behavior . tape 52 . Indiana 2015, p. 168–176 , doi : 10.1016 / j.chb.2015.06.001 (English).
  • Stephan Porombka , Christiane Frohmann : Internet cats . A conversation about cat content . Frohmann Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-944195-21-6 .
  • Kamilla Knutsen Steinnes: Too Cute for Words . Cuteness Evokes the Kama Muta Emotion and Motivates Communal Sharing. Oslo 2017, urn : nbn: no-60030 (English, Master Thesis in Social Psychology / Department of Psychology, University of Oslo).
  • Rhada O'Meare: Do Cats Know They Rule YouTube? Surveillance and the Pleasures of Cat Videos. In: James Meese, Ramon Lobato (Eds.): M / C Journal . A Journal of Media and Culture. tape 17 , no. 2 , 2014, ISSN  1441-2616 (English, [1] - University of Queensland).
  • Jody Berland: Virtual Menageries. Animals as Mediators in Network Cultures (= Roger F. Malina, Sean Cubitt [Eds.]: Leonardo book series ). The MIT Press, Cambridge 2019, ISBN 978-0-262-03960-4 , Cat and Mouse, Symbiotics of Social Media, pp. 149–174 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d e Edith Podhovnik: The Meow Factor - An Investigation of Cat Content in Today's Media . In: Proceedings of the Arts & Humanities Conference 3806257 . International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences. 2016, ISBN 978-80-87927-24-3 , doi : 10.20472 / AHC.2016.001.013 (English).
  2. ↑ a b c d e Markus Brauer: Phenomenon of the cat videos. The meow-meow-net madness. In: Stuttgarter Nachrichten . February 3, 2016, accessed September 25, 2019 .
  3. ^ Stephan Porombka , Christiane Frohmann : Internet cats . A conversation about cat content . Frohmann Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-944195-21-6 .
  4. ↑ Margo DeMello: Animals and Society. An Introduction to Human-Animal Studies . Columbia University Press, New York 2012, ISBN 978-0-231-52676-0 , pp. 339 (English, limited preview in Google Book search).
  5. ↑ a b Jody Berland: Virtual Menageries. Animals as Mediators in Network Cultures (= Roger F. Malina, Sean Cubitt [Eds.]: Leonardo book series ). The MIT Press, Cambridge 2019, ISBN 978-0-262-03960-4 , Cat and Mouse, Symbiotics of Social Media, pp. 149–174 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
  6. ↑ a b c Jessica Gall Myrick: Emotion regulation, procrastination, and watching cat videos online . Who watches Internet cats, why, and to what effect? In: Computers in Human Behavior . tape 52 . Indiana 2015, p. 168–176 , doi : 10.1016 / j.chb.2015.06.001 .
  7. ↑ a b Ina Bolisnski: Cat Content. On the intimacy of the human-pet relationship in digital media . In: Journal for Media Studies . tape 8 , no. 2 , 2016, p. 73-82 , doi : 10.25969 / mediarep / 1903 .
  8. ↑ Kurt Sethe : Bubastis . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume III, 1, Stuttgart 1897, Col. 930-932.
  9. ↑ a b Donna Schons: Cat Photographer Walter Chandoha - The Grandfather of Cat Content. In: monopoly . August 9, 2019, accessed September 25, 2019 .
  10. ^ Franziska Schwarz: C for Cat Content. In: Bayerischer Rundfunk . March 10, 2015, accessed September 8, 2019 .
  11. ^ Cyriaque Lamar: Even in the 1870s, humans were obsessed with ridiculous photos of cats. In: Gizmodo . April 9, 2012, accessed September 26, 2019 .
  12. ↑ James Leo Cahill: A youtube bestiary . Twenty-six theses on a post-cinema of animal attractions. In: Katherine Groo, Paul Flaig (Eds.): New Silent Cinema (=  AFI film readers ). Routledge, New York 2016, ISBN 978-1-317-81943-1 , pp. 263–293 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
  13. ↑ Hannes Stein : Cats are simply the better children. In: The world . August 17, 2015, accessed September 26, 2019 .
  14. ↑ a b c d Mike Herbstreuth: The influence of cats on the history of the Internet. In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur . December 15, 2018, accessed September 25, 2019 .
  15. ↑ The ancestry of Internet cats. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin . June 16, 2019, accessed September 26, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Kai Biermann : The network of laughing cats. In: Zeit Online . May 30, 2012, accessed September 26, 2019 .
  17. ^ A b Anne Richter: Social Media Trend. How Cat Content Conquered the Internet. In: Stern . June 2, 2018, accessed September 26, 2019 .
  18. ^ A b Maria Bustillos: How cats won the internet. In: BBC . September 21, 2015, accessed September 26, 2019 .
  19. ^ Bernadette Bayrhammer: The meow factor. A researcher discovers the cat content. In: The press . January 23, 2018, accessed September 25, 2019 .
  20. ^ "Cat Content" on the net. Like candy for the brain. In: Swiss radio and television . August 8, 2013, accessed September 25, 2019 .
  21. ^ John Markoff : How Many Computers to Identify a Cat? 16,000. In: The New York Times . June 25, 2012, accessed October 3, 2019 .
  22. ↑ Saskia Ibrom: Warning, #CatContent. Hangover on campus. In: Spiegel Online . August 20, 2014, accessed September 26, 2019 .
  23. ^ Cornelia Grobner: Politics in the shadow of cat content. In: The press . August 23, 2019, accessed September 25, 2019 .
  24. ^ Ariane Alter : Psychotest. What do cats say about cat content? In: Bayerischer Rundfunk . July 17, 2015, accessed September 26, 2019 .
  25. ↑ a b Kamilla Knutsen Steinnes: Too Cute for Words . Cuteness Evokes the Kama Muta Emotion and Motivates Communal Sharing. Oslo 2017, urn : nbn: no-60030 (English, Master Thesis in Social Psychology / Department of Psychology, University of Oslo).
  26. ↑ Oh God, how cute: The internet is all about "cat content". In: Focus Online . August 9, 2013, accessed September 25, 2019 .
  27. ^ Wilhelm Hofmann, Leonard Reinecke, Adrian Meier: Of Sweet Temptations and Bitter Aftertaste . Self-Control as a Moderator of the Effects of Media Use on Well-Being. In: Leonard Reinecke, Mary Beth Oliver (Eds.): The Routledge Handbook of Media Use and Well-Being . International Perspectives on Theory and Research on Positive Media Effects. Routledge, New York / London 2017, ISBN 978-1-317-50195-4 , pp. 216 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
  28. ↑ Hiroshi Nittono, Michiko Fukushima, Akihiro Yano, Hiroki Moriya: The Power of Kawaii . Viewing Cute Images Promotes a Careful Behavior and Narrows Attentional Focus. In: PLOS ONE . tape 7 , no. 9 , 2012, ISSN  1932-6203 , doi : 10.1371 / journal.pone.0046362 (English).
  29. ↑ Cindy Perman: Validated! Watching Cute Cat Videos Boosts Productivity. In: CNBC . October 12, 2012, accessed September 28, 2019 .