Binge Watching

So what ​is it about binge watching that allows us to focus so much more of our attention on that than anything else? There are a few theories. 

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According to Kevin Fallon, author for The Daily Beast, as TV has gotten better, viewers have gotten smarter, which means TV gets even more complex, which makes binge watching more fun. Since the world has so many things distracting people and competing for their attention, binge watching provides a refuge from the craziness. He goes on to claim that, since programming is increasing in quality, the term "binge" is losing its negative connotation. 

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"TV has gotten better, making viewers smarter, making TV even more complex, making binge-watching more fun" -Kevin Fallon

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I, however, am not sure that I agree with that. As I discussed earlier with the results of my survey, many millennials thing of binge watching as shameful or ​embarrassing. This goes against what Fallon is saying about binge losing its negative connotation. While these millennials treat binge watching as their default way to watch TV, it still has the negative connotation that comes with binging. While shows made my streaming sites are popular, many people also binge watch older shows, like The Office and Friends. These shows would be less complex than the new shows that Fallon discusses. 

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I personally have a few different theories. The first is that, when we binge watch, we are not fully focused on the show. Since many people use binge watching as an escape, they watch mindlessly, not using their full attention span. Their mind is wandering, thinking about other things or just blankly trying to get rid of the stress that caused them to binge watch in the first place. 

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Further along the line of not focusing our full attention on binge watching, most people engage in some sort of other activities while binge watching (including myself). Between texting, scrolling through social media, playing phone games, and all of the other distractions available, full attention never seems to be given to the show for long. Don Tapscott, author of Grown Up Digital, talks about watching his son, Alex, watching three different shows at once with his friends while on their computers and racing to see who could look up facts the fastest when something on one of the shows was contested by one of the friends. While this may be an extreme example, it shows how the digital generation has a multitasking mindset, which lends itself well to their shrinking attention spans. Never focusing too long on one thing allows people to binge watch despite having small attention spans.