Oddly satisfying videos are

internet video Internet video (online video / cloud-based video) is the general field that deals with the transmission of digital video over the internet. Internet video exists in several formats, the most notable being MPEG-4i AVC, AVCHD, FLV, and MP3. There ...

s that portray repetitive events or actions that viewers find pleasing. Common subjects include domino shows,

parlor trick Platform magic (also known as parlor magic, stand-up magic or cabaret magic) is magic that is done for larger audiences than close-up magic and for smaller audiences than stage magic. It is more intimate than stage magic because it does not require ...

s, slime,

pressure washing Pressure washing or power washing is the use of high-pressure water spray to remove loose paint, mold, grime, dust, mud, and dirt from surfaces and objects such as buildings, vehicles and concrete surfaces. The volume of a mechanical pressure w ...

, hydraulic presses, scrap metal shredders, soap cutting and paint mixing. They are viewed as forms of

escapism Escapism is mental diversion from unpleasant or boring aspects of daily life, typically through activities involving imagination or entertainment. Escapism may be used to occupy one's self away from persistent feelings of depression or gener ...

or ASMR. The term "oddly satisfying video" emerged on the

internet forum An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, imag ...

after the /r/oddlysatisfying

subreddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...

was established in 2013. The label is now widespread on online video platforms such as

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

and Instagram. ''Wired UK'' called slime, a common feature of these videos, the "biggest DIY trend of 2017, even causing a national shortage of glue in the US". In 2021, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' wrote that "the pandemic, coupled with an increasingly chaotic news cycle, has us striving towards the ultimate #smoothbrain state – meaning there’s a global audience regularly seeking out the oddly satisfying, and a huge wave of content creators actively manufacturing it". The appeal of oddly satisfying videos is thought to lie in the human preference for symmetry, patterns and repetition, the interest of exploring the behavior of materials, or hand movements. It may be related to the

autonomous sensory meridian response Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a tingling sensation that usually begins on the scalp and moves down the back of the neck and upper spine. A pleasant form of paresthesia, it has been compared with auditory-tactile synesthesia a ...

, a pleasant tingling sensation in the neck and scalp. Evan Malone, a professor of art and film philosophy, theorized that the appeal may lie in their portrayal of everyday experiences as cinematic and, in

Baudrillard Jean Baudrillard ( , , ; 27 July 1929 – 6 March 2007) was a French sociologist, philosopher and poet with interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as w ...

's words, "hyper-real". The effect of watching such videos has been described as a "brain massage" or "lightly hypnotizing", and as a form of psychological

self-care Self-care has been defined as the process of establishing behaviors to ensure holistic well-being of oneself, to promote health, and to actively management of illness when it occurs. Individuals engage in some form of self-care daily with food ...

to help overcome stress or anxiety. The satisfaction derived may have to do with

mirror neurons A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of the other, as though the observer were itself acting. Such neurons hav ...

, which fire when one performs a motion or watches someone else perform a motion.

References

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External links

/r/oddlysatisfying
on Reddit Video Self-care Popular psychology