Brands help calm consumers

As anxiety levels rise brands and platforms innovate to give the people what they need, new and sometimes slightly bizarre ways to de-stress.

For those who find the constant bad news upsetting, or potentially those just wishing to see less random posts from their Aunties, Facebook recently created a 'Quiet Mode'. This tool allows users to choose a time frame in which they will not receive any notifications, putting the user in more control of what can be a highly distracting platform. This update is part of a larger digital wellbeing movement that has seen many other companies enact changes to try and combat some of the negative effects that social media can have on user's mental health.

Ironically Facebook has been used by another platform to cleverly calm people down, and hopefully even lull them to sleep. New podcast Ts&Zzz's aims to bore listeners into an unconscious state by reading them terms and conditions from brands including Facebook. The podcast aims to shed light on the issue of how few people actually read important and legally binding documents, by also summarising the key points of the contracts in the show's summary notes.

If you can dream it, it lives on Tik Tok, especially in the case of this recent trend. Tik Tok influencers have been streaming themselves sleeping on the platform, sometimes receiving thousands of viewers and an increase in followers as they do. "Brian Mandler, a founder of the Network Effect, a digital agency focused on TikTok, said that the streams also provide a level of authenticity that so many users on the platform currently crave".

Already growing to mainstream popularity status, ASMR videos have taken another leap during this stressful time. ASMR creators have been sharing specific COVID-19 ASMR content, some with a focus on debunking myths, others with videos tackling the emotional issues involved. Put simply "Different ASMR genres work for different people, but the main goal of each is the same: relax the viewer and distract them from their troubles".

Source: Huffington Post Canada

Brands have also been releasing soothing ASMR-like content during this time. Whisky brand Old Pulteney released a 15 minute soothing soundscape called 'From Coast to Couch' in which the brand hopes to transport viewers to the natural home of the Scotland born brand, with soothing coastal sounds and visuals. US-based Mexican casual food brand 'Moe's Southwest Grill' also released a Youtube video of corn chips being dipped and slowly swirled in liquid cheese for a solid 8 hours of calming goodness.

Disney+ is the latest platform to get on board, releasing their own calming content. Zenimation has been put together and released as 10 short episodes of soothing visual and audio moments from famous Disney films. The episodes like "water" and "flight" cut together many nature based or otherwise tranquil moments into themed clips.

Source: Nerdist.com

Zara Cooper