People say that They don’t want to be sadbut their online habits disagree. The “sad” content is now widespread to attract more views. Why does it have so much pass?

Whether it’s a state -funded misinformation campaign, whether it’s a content creator trying to grow or a company trying to sell a product, there is a proven way to win a fan and money on the internet: to make people feel something .

Social media platforms, according to the BBC, are criticized that they motivate creators to annoy their audience. However, these reviews tend to focus on content designed to outrage people in order to deal more with a suspension often called “ragebait“. The exploratory looks have fallen on the aforementioned criticism, and they even concluded that it is part of the responsibility for political polarization in recent years. However, rage is not the only feeling that leads users to deal with commenting systematically or to comment on posts or to comment on posts or to comment on posts or to republish videos.

The internet has been flooded with what some people call ‘Sadbait” It draws much less attention, but one of today’s most successful online content is melancholic and melodramatic. Influencers film themselves crying. The scammers tempt their victims with stories of bad luck. In 2024, the Tiktokers gathered hundreds of millions of views with a miserable video called “Corecore”, where collage of depressed films and clips spread over a layer of depressive music. Sadness is a feeling that people may think they want to avoid, but the gloomy, dark and even worrying posts seem to be amazingly well with both people and the algorithms they serve. Sadbait’s success can tell us a lot about both the internet and us.

“The appearances of all sorts of strong emotion – distress, sadness, disgust or even laughter – sprout viewers“Says Soma Basu, a researcher journalist and researcher at the University of Tampere in Finland, studying how the media is spreading online. Creators know that their audience browsing an endless flow of video that they could watch, so a clear and urgent emotional appeal can make them stay, he says. But according to Basu, there is something in the sadness images, in particular, that can blur the lines between the public and the content, creating the opportunity for a special kind of connection.

Algorithms and public

Researchers who analyze highly emotional content on the internet, whether misinformation or memes, link its success to the maximization of social networking platforms. Their algorithms are adjusted to enhance the posts, in which users spend most time commenting, looking and republishing them. The more a post has a response, for whatever reason, the more likely it is that others are to see it.

It is quite reasonable – Internet users, such as film audiences and book readers before them, respond to sad and emotional content, and algorithms reward it. On large social media platforms, content creators are paid on the basis of how much time one devotes to a post and depending on the size of users’ interaction with their posts. The best way to approach viewers is to devour the algorithm. The creators are trying to understand what the machine will promote and make the most of it.

However, “Sadbait” videos, which cause an emotional reaction through sad images and stories, create a space for emotional expression and connection, in addition to the mere challenge of emotion. According to Nina Lutz, a researcher from the University of Washington, these videos offer an opportunity for people with common experiences to get in touch and share personal problems. Comments on such content often include confessions for difficult experiences, such as sexual abuse, loss and emotional loneliness. This phenomenon, similar to Tumblr’s online communities, highlights the importance of social platforms as places for personal discussions. Especially in the case of the “crying videos” in India, which became popular before Tiktok’s ban, creators show emotional vulnerability to audiences, offering viewers a rare and valuable opportunity to see something personal and hidden.