Social Media: Why are sad posts so popular?

People say they don’t seek out sadness, but their online habits say otherwise, as evidenced by the popularity of any sad content on online platforms. Why such popularity?

Whether you’re part of a sponsored misinformation campaign, a content creator trying to build hype, or a business trying to market a product, there is a proven way to gain followers or money online : arouse an emotion in the recipient.

Social media platforms have long been criticized for encouraging content creators to stir up emotions in their followers.

However, these critiques typically focus on the type of content that aims to make people angry into engaging with a message, commonly referred to as “anger baiting.”

This type of content has come under intense scrutiny and analysis, and has even been blamed for the political polarization of recent years, but anger is not the only emotion that encourages users to take an interest in a message by commenting on it or reposting it.

The internet is full of what some call “melancholy content.” Many may not realize it, but the reality is that some of the most popular content online is depressing and sad.

Some content creators film themselves crying, and scammers lure their victims with tales of woe.

In 2024, content creators on TikTok have raked in hundreds of millions of views using a depressing video genre called “Korkor.”

Sadness is a feeling that people may think they want to avoid, but surprisingly, sad, dark, and even depressing messages are more popular with people and more attractive to algorithms.

The success of this “sorrow bait” can teach us a lot about the internet and about ourselves.

Soma Basu, an investigative journalist and researcher at the University of Tampere in Finland, studies how messages, whether audio files or digital videos, go viral online.

“Performances that contain any form of strong emotion – whether anger, sadness, disgust or even a feeling of helplessness – should not be considered mass entertainment. Laughter helps attract viewers.”

Content creators know that their audience is scrolling through an infinite number of videos in real time and can become distracted by one of them.

To keep their audience engaged, content creators resort to a clear and urgent emotional appeal, according to Soma, who believes that images of sadness, in particular, have the power to break down barriers between the audience and the audience. content, thus creating a particular type of connection.

Grievance grooming doesn’t always mean the content creator has to look sad. Another form of grievance grooming is popular on Instagram and TikTok, with AI-drawn cats meeting tragic fates, for example.

To seduce sadness, it is not necessary to depict real human emotions.

In the spring of 2024, Facebook walls were dominated by images created using artificial intelligence. These images depicted injured veterans and children deprived of their parents, and posts containing these images quickly became the most engaged posts on Facebook, according to the researchers.

Whether it’s real or not, people like to indulge their emotions.

Researchers analyze emotionally charged online content, whether fake news or memes.

They correlate the success of content with the goals of social media platforms to maximize engagement with that content.

These platforms’ algorithms look for articles with the highest engagement rate, measured by time spent viewing the articles, commenting on them, and sharing them with other users.

It makes sense that internet users, movie buffs, and bookworms are more likely to engage with sad and emotional content. Algorithms detect this content and reward their creators.

On major social media platforms, content creators are paid based on audience engagement with their posts.

The best way to reach viewers is to please the algorithms. This is why content creators try to find out what algorithms like and then produce content accordingly.

Nina Lutz explains: “I don’t think it’s a seduction strategy. I don’t think it’s just about interacting with content; it can sometimes be a meeting ground for people who share common interests and experiences. »

On TikTok, some accounts post black and white photos of streetlights accompanied by depressing captions. These accounts receive millions of views.

Some accounts state that “owners can be contacted if necessary.”

Nina points out that using social media as a space for discussion is an old tradition: “People are looking to connect even in non-traditional spaces.”

As people tend to talk about their personal lives in the comments of sad videos, the eyes of censors and algorithms are drawn towards them.

According to Soma Basu, an investigative journalist and researcher, this type of interaction is particularly useful in societies that view sadness as shameful.

Soma studied a particular type of depressing video on Indian social media platforms.

On these platforms, she came across “wailing videos,” in which a content creator moves their lips in sync with the soundtrack of a movie or song that has been reposted on TikTok.

This type of content was popular in India before TikTok’s ban in 2020.

Due to the success of this type of content, it is possible to find videos that teach content creators how to cry.

After TikTok was banned, many creators of this popular type of content moved to Instagram.

According to Soma, crying videos “are popular because they do not conform to the norms accepted by society.”

“Watching people express private emotions that they have rarely shared with anyone triggers a kind of digital curiosity and voyeurism on the part of the audience, as well as a sense of spectacle on the part of the content creators,” explains Mr. Soma.