With the emergence of Coronavirus and the introduction of mandatory lock downs, a lot of individuals have been forced to stay home. Self isolation has fueled many indoor activities to spike. A lot of new viewers have been introduced to Netflix, the increase has been so high that last week Netflix surpassed oil giant Exxon in market value share.

People have resorted to so many different activities such as working out at home, taking online classes and spending more time in the kitchen.

The recent trend of banana bread on social media has encouraged hundreds and thousands of individuals to try their hand in baking. This article’s angle will focus on the positives of baking for mental health and also touch upon the risk of the increase in this home activity.

Publication and Article type

Buzzfeed is notoriously famous for its fun and lightweight news reports that fill our timelines on social media. Buzzfeed is known for publishing quizzes and articles about food which is why it is a suitable platform for this article. For this story, a more serious approach has to be taken since it will touch upon mental illness and the coronavirus. Therefore the article will be better suited for Buzzfeednews.com, a subdivision of Buzzfeed that provides serious journalism and entertainment.

The story will be a feature story involving several different point of views, including a baking experiment that I will be doing at the end of the article.

Target Audience of Buzzfeed

Buzzfeed is a digital media company with several cross platform channels such as Buzzfeedvideos, Buzzfeed Media Brands, Buzzfeednews and so much more. The target audience of Buzzfeed are millennials; most of which are female. This platform has been picked as my interviewees are all millennials as well.

Research and Structure

Since the article will touch base on mental illness, the below sources might be used to explore the connection between baking and stress relief:

• ‘Baking Gives You Confidence’: Users’ Views of Engaging in the Occupation of Baking
• Psychosocial Practice Within a Residential Setting
• Feeding the body and soul ; Cooking can be good therapy after an illness: [1 Edition]
• Google trends – Keyword search for bread (and possibly baking)
• Everyday creative activity as a path to flourishing

For the structure of the article, I will be following the below image:

Multimedia and Interactivity

• Interviews: There will be 4 interviews that will be recorded through the online Zoom application. The interview with the Psychologist will be done through email.
  • Bhoomika Ghaghada: Co-founder of media agency Street FZC
  • Layan Khamis: Online Bakery Owner
  • Bader Najeeb: Social Media Influencer with over 100k followers on Instagram
  • Zhora Qureshi: Al Rawi Cafe
  • Dr. David Lee: Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the American Center for Psychiatry and Neurology
• Social media use and engagement:
  • Twitter Poll
• Hyperlinks
  • All relevant data and research will be looped with hyperlinks

For the social experiment, I will be using the below video to bake cookies at home (from Buzzfeed’s Tasty):