We can’t wait to dig into the second season of “Orange is the New Black.”
And according to Netflix (a blame-worthy originator of the trend), 61 percent of its subscribers admit to similar yearnings for serial sessions.
Practicing binge-viewing is simple: Download or stream TV seasons from your favorite purveyor, and watch for two to three hours. And despite Newton Minow’s criticisms of the tube as a vast wasteland, a number of psychological professionals claim it’s no longer just a dreadful self-indulgence.
Think about their reasons:
- It’s a social experience (i.e., we usually watch with others)
- We watch one show, much like the way we’d read a top-flight novel … in sessions.
- The shows are actually good. [Okay, okay: We know folks who don’t like Breaking Bad. But who could argue with House of Cards? Or Mad Men? Or … ?]
- It’s our selection, one not fueled by advertising or specific time slots.
In our heart of hearts, though, we wish one thing: That we could transfer the experience of eyeballing the screen to eyeballing a book. Our volunteering experiences with grade-schoolers have uncovered some incredulous-to-us issues with reading, even spelling out words. It’s not just limited to kids either. About half of US adults can’t peruse an eighth-grade level book.
Those stats impact everything we do. The question then becomes, “how do we best entice employees and consumers and other constituencies to not only keep up with and understand our messages, but also actively enjoy the experiences?” Ideas more than welcome at cbyd.co.