If you spend time on TikTok, you might have noticed that a certain type of video collage pops up all over your For You page. Maybe it has a clip of the adult cartoon family Guy in thereor socialist twitch streamer Hasan “Hasanabi” Piker speaks about Black Lives Matter. But regardless of the footage, it’s likely that one of the other panels will be playing the gameplay of the mobile endless runner game Subway surfers. And if you’re confused as to what the hell is going on, great! Because I was too.
A probable chipping the #corecore trend meant comment on the societal sensory overloadthese collages contain between two and four videos that play simultaneously, none of them having any connection to the other.
In an example Posted on January 17th by British power metal band Dragonforce there are videos of family Guy and a live show by the band. The left side? It is completely dominated by Subway surfersThe temple run-like endless runner co-developed by Kiloo and Sybo Games and has been on the market for over a decade. This video received almost 15,000 likes and almost 200,000 views. And it’s just one of the many videos now circulating that have inexplicable characteristics Subway surfers.
An oddly satisfying combination
So why is Subway surfers popping up all over TikTok?
dr Natalie Coyle, a psychologist with a Ph.D in mental health research and the author of several articles covering the psychology of video games believes the concept of “visual tactility‘ comes into play here. By posting “enchanting” or “relaxing” content side by side — like perfectly scooped foam or endlessly running montages — creators can hold the user’s attention for longer periods of time.
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“In the Hasanabi videos that I’ve seen that use this collage format, there tend to be two types of videos that are separate from the main video: Subway surfers, and then content considered “oddly satisfying,” like cutting foam in perfect symmetry,” said Dr. coyle “This is sometimes referred to in research as ‘visual tactility,’ but it’s still an emerging area of study.”
Coyle suggests that each part of these collages can produce different effects on a viewer. While she notes that it’s not yet known whether simply viewing game footage can induce the fabled “state of flow,” she believes if some type of game video could be, it’s footage of an endless runner Subway surferswalking along a set path with few other distractions to consider.
“If focusing on a video game and hitting its optimal route isn’t your thing, oddly satisfying content/visual tactility content [that is playing alongside it] can increase your receptivity to the main information in the video,” she said. “So in short, while recording games like Subway surfers has the potential to increase auditory attention, the “oddly satisfying” video has the potential to relax viewers, improve their listening, and increase their chances of remembering the content discussed in the main video.”
Subway surfers is gaining players, thanks in part to TikTok
Developer Sybo Games appears poised to capitalize on the chaotic trend, Post similar TikToks At Subway surfers‘ official account. This was announced by company boss Mathias Gredal Nørvig my city that the game is also seeing “a new wave of eyes” thanks to this “era of user-generated content.” Subway surfers‘ Millions of existing active players.
Hasanabi’s editor Ostonox narrated my city that he calls the TikTok trend “retention bait,” with one panel in the video collages being the “main content with audio,” while the rest of the clips serve only to capture the viewer’s attention. Originally a satirization of the #corecore videos he’s seen on the app, Ostonox said whenever he uses the format on Hasanabi’s account, the videos perform very well for the first 30 minutes, in part because they cause people to watch longer and listen to the entire video message.
“Pairing three different videos shared on the same TikTok works very well on a short film-based platform as TikTok encourages users to swipe away from a video once they get bored,” said Ostonox. “So when your attention starts drifting to one of those ‘retention-bait’ videos, your eyes can just dart to another panel of someone cutting colorful kinetic sand, or mobile game footage of a character collecting coins. This strategy is used by many accounts on TikTok that seem to only post TV show clips like family Guy, but since posting about it I’ve had other creators comment on how successful it has been for them too. In fact, many of our commenters said the format helped them absorb information better, which reminds me of the fidget toy trend from years ago that claimed students would learn better if they could do something with their hands while listening.”
It is unclear if the video collages, especially those with Subway surfers, actually have no effect on a viewer’s attention span. One thing is clear, though: while these videos may look deranged, they’re hugely popular, being used on their own TikTok accounts by creators from Hasanabi to Philip DeFranco. So be prepared, there could be a lot more to come Subway surfers in your TikTok future.
