Cat memes dominate the charts on three platforms, hitting three key elements of a hit

This article deeply analyzes the phenomenon of cat meme short videos going viral on major social platforms and explores the three major traffic codes behind it. Through this article, we can get a glimpse of the latest trends in Internet pop culture, and hope it will help you gain insight into the creation and dissemination of short video content.

When magical emoticons are put into short videos, will their dissemination effect be doubled?

Recently, a type of short video called "cat meme" has become popular on the Internet. Not only individual creators, but even many corporate official accounts have made cat meme short videos, using exaggerated and vivid expressions of cats and other animals to show the emotions and information they want to express.

These videos have received extremely high views and attention on platforms such as Bilibili, Xiaohongshu, and Douyin, becoming one of the most popular contents among users recently. According to Kass Observation, the Douyin #猫meme topic has been viewed more than 2.2 billion times, and many related videos on Bilibili have been viewed more than 2 million times.

Since the advent of the Internet, emoticons have played an extremely important role in everyone's "surfing life", and among them, the salty and sweet "cat master" is a well-deserved one. So, in the field of short videos, why can cat memes become a top stream, and what information does it release behind its popularity?

1. From Bilibili to Tik Tok, cat memes become the new top short video platform

Meme is actually a foreign word, which comes from the book "The Selfish Gene" by British scientist Richard Dawkins. It refers to "thoughts, behaviors or styles spread between people in the same cultural atmosphere." It is roughly similar to what we often call "stalks", so "cat meme" can be simply understood as "cat meme pictures."

Therefore, "cat meme" cannot be regarded as a new form of content. The reason why it has recently attracted widespread attention in China again is due to a Japanese UP host on Bilibili.

On February 29, B station UP host @ねこのつぶやき-miao (Cat's Self-Talk) updated his account for the first time, posting four videos in a row, telling about his new experiences and new feelings after coming to China from Japan.

It is worth noting that these rather "subjective" contents do not involve real people. Instead, the narrators are a group of familiar "cat memes" on the Internet.

For example, the first video posted by the up-host restored a small episode that happened on the plane when she and her ex-husband came to China: at the beginning of the video, the two kittens who were talking became the "avatars" of the up-host and her husband, explaining how the up-host had to bring her children to China to live because of her ex-husband's job change. Although the conversation between the two was quite ordinary, the expressions and calls of the two kittens were very emotional, making the audience seem to empathize with the up-host's helplessness about going to a foreign country.

@ねこのつぶやき-miao B station video screenshot

Next, the uploader used the emoticon of a little American shorthair holding its head and screaming, vividly recreating a baby who broke down and cried for two hours on the plane because she was uncomfortable. Just when she was at a loss and could only cry along, the "shaking belly orange white" representing the kind-hearted Chinese brother came with magical music and comforted the uploader who was in an extremely sorry state at the time. Finally, the uploader used the emoticon of "orange cat beating up other cats" to "punish" herself for her prejudice against China and the Chinese in the past.

Objectively speaking, the whole story is very ordinary, without any attractive climax or twist. Even limited by the up master's Chinese level, the text of the video can only use the most basic sentences, which can't play any decorative role. If it weren't for the large number of "cat memes" in the video that showed the emotions that the up master didn't know how to express, it would be impossible for many B station netizens to stay for him.

These four videos have been loved and followed by many netizens since they were released. Currently, their views on Bilibili have exceeded 2 million. Many Bilibili netizens also actively interacted with the up-loader in the video comment area, telling her that the video was well done, that they could understand what she wanted to express, and that they wished her a happy time in China.

Later, @ねこのつぶやき-miao specially recorded a video to express his gratitude to the enthusiastic Chinese netizens, and revealed that his account had gained 160,000 followers in three days, and that he would continue to work hard in the future to create works that everyone would like.

@ねこのつぶやき-miaoB station account screenshot

After that, cat memes, a form of short video creation, quickly spread across various platforms, not only on Bilibili, but also on Douyin and Xiaohongshu. Many creators began to use popular cat memes online, paired with simple dialogues, background images and music, to present various interesting short stories.

For example, the TikTok account @猫meme小剧场 used to make short videos using cat emojis, but they didn’t make much of a splash. In early March, he seized the wave of popularity and made a series of short videos titled “If History Were Memes: The Life of XX”, using cat memes as the protagonists to popularize the life stories of ancient celebrities. Many netizens praised it as truly entertaining and educational, and the account gained far more popularity than usual.

@猫meme小剧场TikTok video screenshot

Xiaohongshu blogger @夏事的行影日记 also used cat memes to show the changes in his mentality at different stages of his trip to Tibet. In particular, he joked that he was like a "begging cat" after returning from Tibet, with only 4.7 yuan left in his WeChat balance. Many netizens who had the same experience commented that this small detail was "too real."

@夏事的形影日记Xiaohongshu video screenshot

It is worth noting that, thanks to the efforts of the post-2000s workers, cat memes have even appeared in the works of many official accounts. While using cat memes to make live videos, they also show consumers the company's production environment, product concepts, material sources, etc. No matter what the content is, there are people who like the cat memes for their "face", which plays a good role in publicity and breaking the circle.

Screenshots of some official accounts’ cat meme videos

2. Why is cat meme so popular?

How did the not-so-novel cat meme become the latest Internet hit? After carefully observing the "hot videos", Kas found that many of them had already laid the groundwork for becoming a "hit".

First of all, in an environment where pets are loved by more and more users, choosing animals, mainly cats, as the main expression subject of the video will naturally be more likely to be liked by the audience.

The "2023-2024 China Pet Industry White Paper (Consumption Report)" shows that as of 2023, the number of pet cats in my country has reached 69.8 million, a year-on-year increase of 6.8%, surpassing pet dogs to become the most popular category in my country's pet market.

On platforms where young people gather, such as Douyin, Bilibili, and Xiaohongshu, the topic of cats is unprecedentedly hot. The cumulative views of the two tags #猫 and #猫咪 on Douyin alone have exceeded 380 billion times. All of this proves that cats have become a topic that modern people, especially the younger generation, often pay attention to and discuss in their daily lives. Everyone is happy to like and share related short videos, which has helped the popularity and further spread of cat memes.

Secondly, many cat meme materials have been circulating on the Internet for a long time and have a certain popularity and recognized meaning. Creators use these cat memes for expression and narration, which can not only better express what they think in their hearts, but also easily resonate with users.

In fact, emoticons are a kind of popular culture formed after the rise of social software. For a long time, they have been responsible for expressing the "inexpressible" meanings instead of words. When emoticons enter the field of short videos, they actually play the same role.

In ordinary short videos with people as the main subject, the process of conveying information is prone to deviations because of the differences in the expressiveness of the people on screen and the different understandings and perceptions of different viewers. However, the vivid expressions of cat memes can not only quickly catch the viewer's attention, but also convey the creator's intentions to the audience more accurately because of their special meanings, helping the audience to understand their creative intentions and emotions.

The four most popular cat memes Source: Weibo @梨视频

In addition, the cute image of cats and the light-hearted and cheerful expression of cat memes can also lighten some slightly serious and tragic stories, which will reduce a lot of stress for viewers when browsing.

Third, the cat meme short videos that are popular at this stage mostly focus on expressing the personal emotions of the creator in a certain situation, which can easily touch the emotions of the audience who have similar experiences and trigger strong resonance.

Take the video "Use cat memes to shock the boss" which has been remade by many official accounts. The original version tells the story of a post-00s intern who accidentally became the operator of the company's corporate account. Although he knew nothing, he was assigned a "severe" data target by his boss. He had to "play it bad" and post cat memes to complain. Unexpectedly, this video really became a "hit", and the company also ushered in a huge wealth.

@YXC Yangxing Technology B station video screenshot

The various cat emojis in the video are certainly interesting, but the real reason for their popularity is that they remind countless workers of themselves who were assigned unreasonable tasks and had to "give up" after their efforts were fruitless. Under the slightly humorous expression, it is the "bitter tears" of a group of workers that are hidden.

Fourth, the characteristics of cat meme, such as “easy to make” and “no need to appear on camera”, have lowered the threshold for making short videos, which can attract more ordinary people to join and expand the scope of dissemination.

The production of cat memes does not require complicated shooting techniques and post-processing. Creators only need a mobile phone to quickly complete the production of videos. The low technical threshold allows more people to participate in the creation of short videos. And because real people are not required to appear in the video, the video will not reveal the author's real information, which reduces the psychological pressure of many ordinary people and increases everyone's interest in creating it themselves.

Conclusion

In general, cat meme is just a popular short video creation form on the Internet at this stage. If the creator simply imitates it, it may be popular for a while, but in the long run, it will not have much help in his career. Especially in this era of hot spots and reversals, if you only chase the popularity without real content and thinking, you may end up making things worse.

However, through the popularity of cat meme, Kas also summarized the three key words of the short video traffic code. If the creator can grasp these elements, the video has the possibility of becoming a hit.

First, it is "emotional" . Short videos have been popular for many years, and the audience has seen a lot of "fancy" things. In the future, if you want to break out of the content track, it is better to focus on emotions rather than forms. Especially at present, more and more people pay attention to topics such as "inward exploration" and "self-expression". If short video works can touch the hearts of users and cause strong resonance, or can help ordinary people express themselves and release pressure, they are very likely to stand out from the crowd.

The second is "sociality" . On short video platforms, users are not only consumers of content, but also creators and disseminators of content. Short videos with strong social attributes can undoubtedly stimulate users' desire to forward, promote interaction and communication with users, strengthen the connection between the two, and enhance the recognition of content in users' minds.

The third is “participation” . To enhance the influence of content, it is necessary to attract enough people to participate and spread it. To this end, creators need to work hard on video production methods and fun to narrow the distance with the audience, attract more viewers to spontaneously participate in the video creation and dissemination process, gain fun and satisfaction from it, and enhance loyalty to the creators.

Author: Jiang Bei; Source public account: Kas Data (ID: 736105)