Monday cat humour along with a look a why we indulge in cute pets on the internet.
Cats and the internet go together. Actually just about any cute animal doing something cute and you have internet click bait. However, as the popular blog BuzzFeed.com reports, their cat stories routinely attract an average of 9,000 views, versus those featuring dogs, which only get around 5000.
Preferences in cuteness species aside, why are we so fascinated by cute pets on the internet? The founder and CEO of Buzzfeed, Jonah Peretti, has a theory that it is just part of our humanity and we would have to agree. The following is his take on having hard hitting journalism next to cute pets:
“People are getting news and information from Facebook and from Twitter. And if you look at your Facebook news feed, it has the cute animal next to the long-form journalism next to your friend getting drunk.”
Peretti fiercely defended why BuzzFeed can publish a scoop about President Barack Obama’s secret trip to Afghanistan alongside a story such as, “33 Animals who are extremely disappointed in you.”
His answer was that publishing has become like a Paris café. You show up with a copy of Le Monde and start reading. Then there is usually a dog under a table. Bending down to pet the dog doesn’t make you stupid. It makes you human.
“So we (at BuzzFeed) said, ‘Let’s embrace everything that makes us human, even if that is sometimes diverse and contradictory content,” Peretti continued. “Social media has already created that Paris café experience, particularly for younger readers.”
via… Lessons from grumpy cats and Buzzfeed about digital story telling | Inma
So enjoy your furry internet indulgences, while picturing yourself in a Parisian cafe. The way we consume news has evolved and a healthy mix of cuteness overdose can soften how we deal with the other, more serious information we are gathering on the internet. Now go ahead and watch this video of 50 adorable pets in need of a nap, we know you want to.
