This form of content predominantly displays 20-30 year olds living in major cities working in cushy tech or consulting jobs. The other end of the spectrum also covers “slow living” where people of various age groups share their lives in remote areas, making things from scratch or taking care of their families. Creators, entrepreneurs, corporate workers, stay-at-home individuals, and most recently, laid-off employees, there exists a universal video library of all kinds of behind-the-scenes and mind-boggling viewership numbers associated with this

What could be the reason behind the immense popularity of knowing how people spend their lives? Regular, non-celebrities, like us, completing their daily tasks and making that seem like a successful life.

#cosy #slowliving

Let’s rewind to the last two years when lockdown/COVID-19 restrictions took the entire world by storm. Not having social and in-person human interaction for numerous months, yes even for introverts, was an overwhelming experience. Simple meetups for coffee, dinner, spending time with friends felt like a luxury, as they were unattainable at that time. With the social cut-off, came our need to know how everyone was spending their time, is there a better way to do this/that, what is a normal day for someone who works in my dream job, what would my life look like if I stayed in so- and so place , this list goes on. Its fulfilled our need to escape reality and live vicariously through other people’s documentation. It gave a sense of comfort and belonging that people do make time to cook a meal even after working for eight hours a day, and its something I can do too. It brings ideas, great recommendations or makes you feel that you too could be like the people who put their visually pleasing lives online. You can be Sarah in New York or Valentina in Milan, you can be anyone in the world, and that gives any person a sense of freedom and imagination.

IMHO, I have been watching these for a while too, and they are pretty addictive. The journey of starting mundane/daily tasks and completing them gives the creator and the viewer immense satisfaction and a sense of achievement. We are all invested in it and rooting for it. As mentioned, you can be anyone and live the life they carefully curate. It’s the same psychological effect that ASMR and Mukbang videos have.

From a mental health perspective, like any other form of media that a person views, it has its limitations and side effects. You may be living a perfectly normal life but as you do not possess particular products, exposure or the surroundings, you feel left out or not part of the “I have arrived” club. Some of these may not be as relevant because of social structures, cultural differences, and perspectives and this can lead to an identity clash as to what then defines a successful 26-year-old in today’s generation.  We know the world is getting younger and faster every day, so to be able to adapt is a great way to go about things, and understanding that the generation who is able to put things on any platform is very different from the ones just posting about annual vacations. This also leads us to an interesting observation of different personalities- people who can easily share, the really private ones, okay maybe I can just post about this particular thing kind and I want to show how my work is going kind, and in all of them, there lies one thing in common- the need to create a certain curiosity about their lives and how to go about delivering the narrative.

In conclusion, I view it as a modern-age art form in the ever-changing landscape of social media. The hook to keep users from knowing about other people’s private lives, and building a bond with the creator has made it one of the most popular forms of content today. This space is our visual diary of how different kinds of people live today. Diaries, help us understand ourselves and our decisions better.