Here's a video that I think has a similar appeal:http://wimp.com/cinderblocks/ - it's just a guy laying cinder blocks, zero consumerism. But relaxing.
My daughter is about to enter Montessori, and one of the techniques they like is to simply demonstrate to a child - not much narration, no shortcuts or summarizing, just demonstration. And I realized how little I do this, even though I describe things to my daughter constantly.
So maybe these videos are filling that gap. The commercialism might be a supply-side phenomena, since that's where the ad dollars are.
That is a great video. You can tell from the way that he is handling the mortar, that its consistency is just so. Each time he gets just the right amount of mortar in just the right place. The blocks get placed oh so easily. There's no wastage of materials, as mortar that gets squeezed out is efficiently reused. In short, he's an expert.
Maybe this type of video is something every tradie [1] should have on their website? Watching this video makes me realise that this guy can do a fast job to a high standard, and that I'd have no hesitation in hiring him if I needed bricks laid, despite my general preference for doing jobs around the house myself.
One, great video, it had a very Zen like quality. However, I fully acknowledge my ignorance in understanding of "Zen" or Eastern philosophies in anything but the most superficial of ways (so it might not be that Zen after all).
Two, did you see that mortar work?! (Full on 1st world problem self entitled asshole rant incoming...) I was told by my house builder that the brickwork of my home, which has a very baby diarrhea-esque mortar application vibe to it, is the current "style". I think it's more likely they didn't want to pay craftsmen like the guys in the video that do good clean mortar work.
I dunno I think that one is different -- it's nice to watch someone who is good at what they do.
But that's not what unboxing videos are. I've never found one to be enjoyable. I just stumbled across some when trying to search for reviews of products and they can't hold my attention.
If you're considering Montessori, there's a few things I need to warn you of (I speak as a parent who's put 4 children through)
1. You'll never look at normal schooling the same way again. You'll find the thought of sending your kinds to a traditional school depressing and wonder how anyone can think it's a good idea
2. Every parent/teacher you who finds out you send your kids to a non-traditional school, and who hasn't experience of them, will find the need to defend traditional schooling
3. Unless you're lucky enough to have access to a Montessori high school, or you're able to homeschool, you'll have to face the day when you send your kids back into a normal school.
Another reason that these videos are so popular is because of copyright protections. While searching for "McQueen" and Disney Cars related content on YouTube, you will find little else other than toys being unwrapped and played with by adults. The copyright holders are not putting any official content on YouTube, any bootlegged stuff gets pulled, so the only remaining content is these toy videos. I for one am sick of this content but I understand the appeal to the child.
Side note: I wish some deletionist hadn't removed the WP page for "frisson". It now points to "cold chills" which it isn't (it's also not ASMR which is also different).
There used to be a very good page on the phenomenon, but it's long gone and there's not even any history of it existing that I'm aware of. Now, because it's gone, most pages that document frisson are now calling it "cold chills" and referring back to WP.
A lot of that traffic is definitely ASMR. The camera is very close to the unboxing and manages to pick up the tiny sounds made in great detail and clarity. Another use for this type of video is also falling asleep, which would explain the sheer amount of views as many people queue up these videos night after night.
Edit: I love how this article just tapers off into nothingness.
Thanks, I've been looking for decades for the name to describe what ASMR is. I'm surprised there's any doubt it exists; it's a very distinct sensation with very specific triggers (which I guess are different for different people). I just figured it was common.
It strikes me that with "surprise eggs" in particular, the "feeling of unboxing" is actually the entire traditional value proposition of the product. Seeing the contents of all the eggs removed and displayed entirely short-circuits the need to actually pay $1.99 to do that yourself.
I can't say I know much about the range of subgenres that exist withing the unboxing universe, but at least in tech unboxing videos, I've always assumed that the primary appeal was the first-impressions review that comes with the unboxing. After a user takes their new thinkpad out of the box, they might remark about how great the travel is on the keyboard, or about its weigh or build-sturdiness. They're the next best thing to trying a product in person (and real reviews are harder to come by than dime-a-dozen unboxings).
Maybe I'm totally misjudging and the primary attraction that they instill the same reaction as getting a shiny new gadget does.
1) the "first impressions review". Descriptions of how sturdy or flimsy or smooth something feels, how it disappoints or delights compared to the picture on the box, whether it works as expected immediately. This actually seems really useful to me as a supplement to written reviews.
2) the "revel in the thing itself" unboxing. My preschool-aged nephew loves these videos. He seems to have as much fun watching people play with new toys as he does actually playing with new toys, or more. In a sense, this sort of video actually shields him from disappointment -- if the toy sucks, he can just move on to the next video, or he might not even notice since the person on screen is probably having fun anyway.
Some things are attractively packaged. So seeing someone show off that packaging can be quite nice in itself.
Sometimes unboxing can give you valuable and otherwise hard to find information, e.g. how big the transformer is and how it looks. That stuff is typically nowhere to be found, not on the website of whoever made the thing (even if you search for the manual) and often not in reviews (at least if the transformer isn’t extremely enormous or extremely ugly or otherwise noteworthy).
First impressions tend to be pretty useless in my opinion since it’s not very thought out and all very subjective. Maybe sometimes something useful is said, but it’s mostly useless.
It’s also good for getting a non-product-photo look at the product. For some things there just aren’t any video reviews and photos often just don’t cut it. It’s always good to get more than one look at a product.
This is incredible. The most viewed video of 'RRcherrypie Group' has 80m views. I wonder how these videos spread - are people sharing this like crazy? The comments are a mix of "so cute", "i don't get why i keep watching these", and "where can i buy this??"
It's like the unboxing video in the original article, except given an additional play-cooking element and taken to an extreme of meticulousness.
See all the videos here (the Mentos + Cola one is quite unexpected):
Surely this is more to do with 'getting views' than anything else. To imply that there is a deeper motivation like ASMR etc might be taking it a little too far for the majority of cases.
My guess would be it is just a very easy, non-thinking way of creating content and gaining attention.
In the article he lists some kinds of fetish youtube videos like zit-popping and clean-corn-shuck. One that he didn't mention that I partake in is Earwax Removal -- videos of someone with impacted cerumen getting it removed by a metal rod usually by a nurse.
My daughter loves these 'opening toys' videos -- especially the ones from this woman. I'm very amused to find an article about this sensation, and my wife will be as well. We've been curious about it for a while.
This strikes me as a toddler-specific Ashens (sans dry/sarcastic humour and the iconic couch of course). I watch Ashens regularly, so in a sense I can see the appeal. Yet this woman's content still baffles me.
> Your brain can't entirely distinguish between watching a video game on a screen and actually controlling the action.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I'm an avid gamer but find long gameplay-only vids to be pretty boring. The really successful lets-plays are good because there are one or more people talking over them.
Tldr: watching a video of taking a product out of its packaging gives people the vicarious feeling of newness and ownership without actually buying the product. This is popular it seems, and largest effect is in toddlers.
It's just another trigger the modern world has uncovered in our ape brains. The thrill of unwrapping a banana or mango writ large. It probably won't hurt your kids but if they are watching videos unsupervised and you "come across" them watching that's probably a bigger flag to you.
[+] [-] ianbicking|11 years ago|reply
My daughter is about to enter Montessori, and one of the techniques they like is to simply demonstrate to a child - not much narration, no shortcuts or summarizing, just demonstration. And I realized how little I do this, even though I describe things to my daughter constantly.
So maybe these videos are filling that gap. The commercialism might be a supply-side phenomena, since that's where the ad dollars are.
[+] [-] femto|11 years ago|reply
Maybe this type of video is something every tradie [1] should have on their website? Watching this video makes me realise that this guy can do a fast job to a high standard, and that I'd have no hesitation in hiring him if I needed bricks laid, despite my general preference for doing jobs around the house myself.
[1] http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tradie
[+] [-] jbigelow76|11 years ago|reply
One, great video, it had a very Zen like quality. However, I fully acknowledge my ignorance in understanding of "Zen" or Eastern philosophies in anything but the most superficial of ways (so it might not be that Zen after all).
Two, did you see that mortar work?! (Full on 1st world problem self entitled asshole rant incoming...) I was told by my house builder that the brickwork of my home, which has a very baby diarrhea-esque mortar application vibe to it, is the current "style". I think it's more likely they didn't want to pay craftsmen like the guys in the video that do good clean mortar work.
[+] [-] jaredandrews|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chubot|11 years ago|reply
But that's not what unboxing videos are. I've never found one to be enjoyable. I just stumbled across some when trying to search for reviews of products and they can't hold my attention.
[+] [-] cubicle67|11 years ago|reply
1. You'll never look at normal schooling the same way again. You'll find the thought of sending your kinds to a traditional school depressing and wonder how anyone can think it's a good idea
2. Every parent/teacher you who finds out you send your kids to a non-traditional school, and who hasn't experience of them, will find the need to defend traditional schooling
3. Unless you're lucky enough to have access to a Montessori high school, or you're able to homeschool, you'll have to face the day when you send your kids back into a normal school.
[+] [-] ams6110|11 years ago|reply
I would think he means mason, not a carpenter. Though I didn't watch the video (no Flash).
[+] [-] doctoboggan|11 years ago|reply
[0]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_sensory_meridian_res...
[+] [-] Donzo|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bane|11 years ago|reply
There used to be a very good page on the phenomenon, but it's long gone and there's not even any history of it existing that I'm aware of. Now, because it's gone, most pages that document frisson are now calling it "cold chills" and referring back to WP.
[+] [-] Mithaldu|11 years ago|reply
Edit: I love how this article just tapers off into nothingness.
[+] [-] anishkothari|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TeMPOraL|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] colanderman|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ronilan|11 years ago|reply
[1] some of the rest can be attributed to how views are counted.
[+] [-] bbbrad|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] derefr|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] adrusi|11 years ago|reply
Maybe I'm totally misjudging and the primary attraction that they instill the same reaction as getting a shiny new gadget does.
[+] [-] lotharbot|11 years ago|reply
1) the "first impressions review". Descriptions of how sturdy or flimsy or smooth something feels, how it disappoints or delights compared to the picture on the box, whether it works as expected immediately. This actually seems really useful to me as a supplement to written reviews.
2) the "revel in the thing itself" unboxing. My preschool-aged nephew loves these videos. He seems to have as much fun watching people play with new toys as he does actually playing with new toys, or more. In a sense, this sort of video actually shields him from disappointment -- if the toy sucks, he can just move on to the next video, or he might not even notice since the person on screen is probably having fun anyway.
[+] [-] arrrg|11 years ago|reply
Sometimes unboxing can give you valuable and otherwise hard to find information, e.g. how big the transformer is and how it looks. That stuff is typically nowhere to be found, not on the website of whoever made the thing (even if you search for the manual) and often not in reviews (at least if the transformer isn’t extremely enormous or extremely ugly or otherwise noteworthy).
First impressions tend to be pretty useless in my opinion since it’s not very thought out and all very subjective. Maybe sometimes something useful is said, but it’s mostly useless.
It’s also good for getting a non-product-photo look at the product. For some things there just aren’t any video reviews and photos often just don’t cut it. It’s always good to get more than one look at a product.
[+] [-] morgante|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ars|11 years ago|reply
of the average Toddler.
I'm sure some adults watch it to, but it's aimed at very young kids.
[+] [-] tonyedgecombe|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hackaflocka|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gatehouse|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] creamyhorror|11 years ago|reply
It's like the unboxing video in the original article, except given an additional play-cooking element and taken to an extreme of meticulousness.
See all the videos here (the Mentos + Cola one is quite unexpected):
https://www.youtube.com/user/RRcherrypie/videos?flow=grid&vi...
[+] [-] minikomi|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Leander_B|11 years ago|reply
Our son always seems to end up on such videos and can watch them for as long as possible. Really freaky.
Seems the people behind it are taking a nice cheque home each month.
[+] [-] walterbell|11 years ago|reply
The super-engaged toddlers are remniscent of those in the "Smile Time" episode of Whedon's Angel.
[+] [-] hackaflocka|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AliAdams|11 years ago|reply
My guess would be it is just a very easy, non-thinking way of creating content and gaining attention.
[+] [-] kremlin|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kremlin|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] grimman|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] applecore|11 years ago|reply
Your brain can't entirely distinguish between watching a video game on a screen and actually controlling the action.
[+] [-] __david__|11 years ago|reply
I'm not sure I agree with that. I'm an avid gamer but find long gameplay-only vids to be pretty boring. The really successful lets-plays are good because there are one or more people talking over them.
[+] [-] morgante|11 years ago|reply
Agreed, in that I can't understand why somebody would be interested in either.
[+] [-] PhasmaFelis|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lifeisstillgood|11 years ago|reply
It's just another trigger the modern world has uncovered in our ape brains. The thrill of unwrapping a banana or mango writ large. It probably won't hurt your kids but if they are watching videos unsupervised and you "come across" them watching that's probably a bigger flag to you.
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] hackaflocka|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] geographomics|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]