Just the news you wanted to hear. Binge watching television can help you revive your mind
With the outbreak of television streaming services, like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Instant Video, binge watching TV is at an all time high.
We are always told ‘everything in moderation.’ However, time spent watching television can be something to splurge on for your mind. In a November 2013 survey commissioned by Netflix (they would say that), 76 percent of streamers said that they feel revived after watching multiple episodes of a great TV show.
The survey results defined binge watching a show as viewing between two to six episodes of a show at one time. Watching consecutive episodes makes the show more enjoyable, according to the surveyed TV streamers.
‘Television, especially nowadays, is an art form, and there are times we need to lose ourselves in art,’ the Los Angeles Times stated.
Today, we want instant gratification. Twitter feeds exploded after the finale of the fourth season of Game of Thrones, the most pirated TV show in world. @SirJadeja received 603 retweets and 305 favourites for tweeting, ‘The painful moment you realized you have to wait 10 months for the next Game of Thrones.’
Waiting each week for a new episode and each year for a new season is agony. Catering to this demand, Netflix created hit shows Orange Is The New Black and House of Cards, uploading whole seasons at once for viewers to watch in surplus.
‘TV viewers are no longer zoning out as a way to forget about their day, they are tuning in, on their own schedule, to a different world. Getting immersed in multiple episodes or even multiple seasons of a show over a few weeks is a new kind of escapism that is especially welcomed today,’ cultural anthropologist Grant McCracken said.
Binge watching TV shows has also become a social activity. According to the Netflix survey, 51 percent of viewers prefer to watch their favourite show with at least one other person and 39 percent postpone watching a TV show so they can watch it with another person. Shows also spark conversation on social media, in the workplace and amongst friends.
Also, you can now get paid for watching TV shows and films. Netflix is looking for people passionate about TV and film to watch and describe the programmes with tag words to offer more personal recommendations to subscribers.
‘Netflix currently has 40 taggers in other countries, but it’s hiring for the first time in the UK,’ Forbes stated.
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