With over 100 billion views, why is this video so popular?

At present, there are nearly 100 topics related to decompression on Douyin, and the cumulative number of views of related videos has reached 136.4 billion; the number of views of videos under the topic #解压 on Kuaishou has also reached 57.5 billion. Why are these videos so popular on the Internet? Where is the "point" of decompression? Let's follow the author to find the answer in the article.

"Tell the donkey hoof repairman and carpet cleaner next door that I won't be coming over today."

"I fell asleep halfway through going to the toilet..."

"It's so comfortable to watch, it can cure obsessive-compulsive disorder."

Similar comments are common under a short video of cutting soap. When the knife cuts across the soap surface, neat little squares immediately scatter, giving the audience not only a visual enjoyment, but also a sense of mental comfort after the "irregularity" is neatly "ordered".

@镁粉块Decompression Tik Tok video screenshot

This type of seemingly ordinary and niche video content has actually been popular on various short video platforms for a long time, and as more and more people like it, it has gradually evolved into a new content track - the decompression track. According to Kass's observation, there are currently nearly 100 topics related to decompression on Douyin, and the cumulative number of views of related videos has reached 136.4 billion; the number of views of videos under the #decompression topic on Kuaishou has also reached 57.5 billion times.

Why are these videos so popular on the Internet? Where is the "point" of decompression? Is being a decompression blogger a new opportunity for creators?

1. "I can't stop watching" decompression videos

The injured cow's hoof was carefully cleaned and treated with medicine, the colorful slime was repeatedly squeezed in the blogger's hands, and the crushed eye shadow palette was carefully repaired... These seemingly "boring" processes were made into videos, but they were sought after by many fans, and many people even said that they had become "addicted to watching decompression videos."

If we segment the decompression videos that are popular on the platform, Kas believes that classifying them based on vision, hearing and touch may be a better choice than the traditional classification rules.

First of all, the common content of visual decompression videos is to restore messy things to their original appearance, or to make them present a brand new look through repair. Its biggest feature is "destruction and reorganization", turning disorder into order. Common works such as cutting soap, trimming cow hooves, and pulling blackheads all belong to this branch. Although the main bodies of the works are different, they have many common characteristics, that is, the narrative logic is not complicated, and bloggers often perform simple repetitive actions. For example, the recent popular carpet washing video has been played more than 3 billion times on Douyin, and works with good data can even reach 2 million+ likes.

The opening of a carpet-washing video usually shows the user a "black carpet" that is so dirty that it cannot be seen again. Then, it is rinsed, detergent is applied, turned over, scraped, and so on to restore its original appearance. If the carpet is too dirty, the above process will be repeated three or four times. After a set of processes, the video duration can be said to be expected to be long, and some can even exceed 10 minutes. However, the "impatient" short video viewers have an unusually high tolerance for it.

@羊哥新视觉TikTok video screenshot

The reason is that these actions have clear feedback results. After seeing these pictures, the brain associates various information and produces a stable and predictable sense of order, control and achievement, which offsets the anxiety and pressure caused by the "unexpected" experiences in our daily lives, thus achieving a decompression effect. At the same time, along with the regular movements, the sounds in the video are also regular, which can help the audience immerse themselves in the atmosphere more quickly.

Among the auditory decompression videos, Kas believes that the most representative one is ASMR video. ASMR refers to spontaneous sensory meridian response, which is commonly explained as "intracranial orgasm", that is, the pleasant reaction produced by the human body when it is exposed to some subtle stimuli such as sound and touch, which has the effect of improving sleep and calming emotions.

This type of video mainly gives the audience a stress-relieving and pleasant feeling by amplifying unconventional sounds such as knocking, friction, and chewing.

For example, @嘉儿哄睡屋【助睡压力】, the works of this expert often preset a scene for the audience, such as a swimming pool, a barber shop, a beauty salon, etc. The blogger himself will transform into a service staff in the scene, simulate various service operations, and amplify the subtle sounds produced by each link when they come into contact with each other, so that fans can have an "immersive" experience even when lying in bed.

@镁粉块Decompression Tik Tok video screenshot

The rustling sound of a makeup brush across the cheek, the clear sound of bubbles when sinking into a swimming pool, the rustling sound of a scalp being massaged... are all great stress relievers for a considerable number of users. In addition, the rich scene settings also break the dullness of ordinary ASMR videos and give fans an extra sense of ritual in experiencing the service.

In addition, in Kas's opinion, this content model may also be the most suitable one for live broadcast among the many types of decompression tracks. Because of its relatively strong interactivity, many fans will choose to walk into an ASMR live broadcast room before going to bed and enjoy a "spiritual massage."

Tactile decompression videos are similar to visual videos, but the images are less regular and more indulgent. Rather than using neat images to directly give people a decompression experience, videos are more about helping the audience put themselves into the operator's perspective, thereby recalling past personal experiences and evoking deep emotions. The most representative ones are various videos of playing with slime.

Slime was originally a children's toy, but because of its wonderful feel, good ductility, and bright colors, it is regarded by many adults as a stress-relieving tool. The steps for shooting a slime decompression video are very simple. In most cases, there is only a pair of hands kneading the toy vigorously in front of the camera, so that the viewer can imagine the feeling of playing with slime, thereby achieving the purpose of decompression.

@搞事What are you playing today? Tik Tok video screenshot

Of course, if the creator can horizontally integrate the above-mentioned "three senses", the video can achieve better results. For example, the "immersive beauty" that was once popular on the Internet is a fusion of vision and hearing, which allows the video to teach makeup techniques while also bringing a sense of decompression.

In addition, Kas also observed that some common works on video platforms may not be intended to relieve stress, but they do achieve good results. These are various commentary videos.

In particular, many works such as wilderness survival and house building that were moved from the Internet : against the vast and beautiful natural background, a purely hand-built house slowly takes shape, accompanied by a vivid explanation in a deep voice. While the audience marvels at the creator's hands-on ability, they also have an infinite yearning for the idyllic life far away from the city shown in the video.

@奇妙物語TikTok video screenshot

2. Is “decompression” a good business?

The biggest reason why decompression videos have received so much attention is the increasing stress and anxiety among modern people.

The 2022 National Health Insight Report released by Dingxiang Doctor shows that "emotional problems (anxiety, depression, etc.)" have topped the list of modern people's health problems for three consecutive years. Among them, the anxiety and depression levels of young people aged 18-24 are higher than those of other age groups in adulthood.

The people mentioned in the above survey are also the main users of various short video platforms at present. The excellent compatibility between the two has helped decompression videos become popular, and the "decompression business" online and offline has also become increasingly popular.

Offline, "spiritual classrooms" such as emotional venting halls and mindfulness halls have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. According to previous media reports, Tianyancha data showed that as of August this year, there were 810 companies in my country whose names, products, services or trademarks contained "decompression", and more than 70 new companies were added in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 94.59%.

Products related to decompression have gradually become new business opportunities in the eyes of merchants and bloggers.

Take slime as an example. This product was originally a popular children's toy and was suitable for mass production. However, after it became popular as a stress-relieving toy, some fans had higher requirements for quality and variety. For a time, some bloggers' handmade slime became the object of competition among fans.

Take Kuaishou celebrity @婉尔太酷惹 as an example. She is usually active on the platform as a slime blogger. After accumulating a certain number of fans, she began to try to sell homemade slime. Thanks to the account's powerful ability to attract customers, many fans are interested in her homemade slime, and they need to grab the goods every time it goes on sale.

According to Kass's observation, most of @婉尔太酷惹's products are sold out on the e-commerce platform Weidian. The average price of 200ml slime is about 30 yuan, and the sales volume under a single product link ranges from a few thousand to tens of thousands. Roughly estimated, the sales volume of a single new product can reach hundreds of thousands of yuan. For a blogger with millions of fans, this level of monetization is still quite good.

@Waner micro store screenshot

However, the safety of this type of toys has always been criticized by the public. In 2018, there were many cases of primary school students being poisoned by eating "slime" in China. The big V @老爸测评 even published a special topic for this. Slime was once labeled as a "toxic toy"; in 2021, "slime" was once again named by CCTV, reporting that many products on the market were tested to contain toxic substances. This is the case for mass-produced factory products, and the handmade products of bloggers have caused some people to worry.

In comparison, the online "stress relief business" may be easier to operate.

On the one hand, the narrative logic and shooting methods of decompression videos are relatively simple, so it is not difficult for practitioners to imitate and create them.

On the other hand, content such as ASMR mentioned above is very suitable for live streaming. Its inherent "addictiveness" can easily help bloggers attract a fixed audience group. Fans' rewards or platform creation income can be regarded as a good income.

Of course, no matter which mode the creator chooses, legal and compliant content is the bottom line. Previously, ASMR live broadcast was banned because many creators "took an unconventional approach" and used suggestive "moaning" and "sucking sounds" to attract traffic, and it was regarded as a carrier for spreading pornographic content. It was not until 22 years that it started to pick up again.

In the future, we will wait and see what new stories the decompression track can write.

Author: Jiangbei

Source: WeChat public account "CaasData" (ID: caasdata6)