By Madi Norris ’21 News Reporter
With the availability of online streaming services such as TikTok or Netflix, video entertainment is now easily accessible and personalized to anyone’s, and I mean anyone’s, likes.
On platforms like Disney+ and YouTube, personalization is a key feature. YouTube channel subscriptions and the customized home page of Disney+ are based on each user’s individual experience. Drawing upon the history of a user’s streaming behavior, the service recommends similar videos, movies, or TV shows. In order to keep their clients coming back and to maximize screen time, almost all popular streaming services have this feature available for their consumers.
Around Mercersburg Academy, students can be seen using these streaming sites in their dorm rooms, the student center, and the library (and even during class itself!). These sites offer entertainment at the users’ fingertips, making it easy to connect. Many students like to binge-watch TV shows, Friends, The Office, and Stranger Things tending to be popular options. Lucy Bowman ’21 notes that most of the days in the week she uses such platforms, with Netflix being her main indulgence. Although she loves to binge-watch as a way to relax, she stated, “Sometimes I’m an addict, and it does interfere with my homework at night.” Lauren Besch ’20 feels similarly about the dangers of online video entertainment. She commented, “Streaming services have given us access to multitudes of entertainment which is both a blessing and a curse.”
Less concerned about the risks of wasted time, Aurelius Dunbar ’20 uses YouTube as his main source of entertainment. Because the website offers so many genres on its platform, Dunbar can find what wants to see at anytime, with little to no restrictions. Although Dunbar can resist the temptation to go down the rabbit hole of streaming videos, many students feel as though services such as Netflix and YouTube are interfering with their ability to focus and perform to their best ability in school.
Because they have many options, students now use streaming services primarily for their consumption and production of video entertainment. Anyone with a phone or a tablet with a camera has the opportunity to “become famous” on social media platforms that have uploading capabilities like YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. There is always the possibility of posting a video and having it go viral overnight, gaining thousands of views. Peter Rice ’23 said, “I spend most of my time on TikTok; everyday I wake up and pray that I am famous. I need it. I am addicted.”
Many of these media platforms have capitalized on the addiction of teenagers as well as adults to maximize profits. Most videos on YouTube include up to three advertisements, even if the video is only ten minutes long. All streaming services offer different shows that are only available with their subscription. Because of this exclusivity, consumers are forced to subscribe to many different services if they want to watch all of the shows and movies they like.
With the ease and convenience that accompanies these streaming services, live television and cable are nearly obsolete. Most video entertainment comes from online streaming. Television and film have felt the impact of the rise in online entertainment, but other applications such as TikTok have also captured the attention of the younger generation. Whether with short, thirty second videos or longer forty-five minute shows, online streaming has the potential to monopolize the user’s attention, to their detriment.