Research has found that there are health benefits associated with the positive experiences we have on social media.
While social media often gets a bad rap, with critics saying it's a silly waste of time, neuroscientists believe that what we do on social media can have positive benefits to our health.
Take a second to think about what you do online. If you're anything like me, you probably spend a good chunk of time browsing animal videos or pictures and sharing them with your friends and family around the world.
This simple act may not seem like much, but laughing with those we share this content with increases our connectivity and combats loneliness, as well as improves our mood. That's no real big surprise, though, because how you anyone stay in a bad mood after looking at some cute animals?
What's even more interesting is the fact that neuroscientists also believe that engaging with this type of content on social media improves our relationships and even our memory.
"It's a powerful positive reinforcement," says Patricia Wallace, a psychologist and author of "The Psychology of the Internet."
So next time someone tells you to stop wasting time watching hilarious animal videos, you can tell them you're doing it for the sake of your health.
If you're interested in the study about watching cat videos, read this article.
Internet cats and online cat videos produce positive emotions. As far as social media goes, this study talks about the science behind it all.
"Neuroscientists believe that we get a spike of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which increases when the reward systems of our brain are activated when we get a "like" or comment on one of our posts."
It's that emotional pay-off.
Think about Grumpy Cat makes you feel and how pet therapy, in general, helps people get through their day. When people watch cat videos they have fewer negative feelings, and you don't have to be a cat person.
Internet cat videos and cat-related online media is probably the best form of low-cost pet therapy in case you don't have a pet at home! Cat owners are extra lucky though since they get to live with the best form of pet therapy.
The most important piece of all of this is to rid yourself of all negative emotions! Or if you have some tough tasks you can spend time watching Buzzfeed and cat videos and then get off to accomplishing that harder task! The typical online cat video viewer is a very happy individual!
So it's a pop culture phenomenon but media researchers say this is absolutely a serious enough topic given having fewer negative emotions is very important to our mental health! Enjoy those cat videos!
Cat videos over the gym? No complaints here!
