7. Binge Watching
The coronavirus has disrupted our lives. We can’t hang out with friends or congregate in large groups. Colleges have sent students home, and the dorms are empty. We are all at home. What are we doing while we are stuck at home? Eating, crafting, maybe doing some schoolwork if we have to. But most everyone is watching something at some point during the social distancing.
According to Omnicom Media Group, consumers have spent 55% more of their time streaming video. Consumers have also spent 30% more time binge-watching shows. (Adweek) Consumers in the Gen Z demographic were recorded to increase their streaming by more than 70%, according to the same article from Adweek. The rest of the data collected from Omnicorn can be seen in the infographic below, created by Adweek.
Since SAU made the decision to close the dorms, my friends and I have not been together to binge-watch. But before we left for Spring Break, we had one last marathon session. We worked our way through most of the Marvel movies, some Disney animated classics, and a few other feel-good movies while we tried to make plans for after Spring Break.
While I am at home, I cannot stream movies like I can at school, so my binge-watching has significantly decreased. However, I am watching a lot of Hallmark movies, due to their weekend Christmas movie marathon. During the month of March, they had a March Madness Christmas movie bracket that people could fill out as they played the holiday movies. During Christmas break, I binge watch Doctor Who because BBC America plays a complete 24/7 marathon for almost 3 weeks.
What do I like to binge?
I like to binge a wide variety of things. On Netflix, I love watching Stranger Things and 13 Reasons Why. Whenever a new season of a show that I watch comes out, I will usually binge watch all the earlier seasons before watching the newest season. I did that over the summer when the third season of Stranger Things became available to stream, and when the third season of 13 Reasons Why came out. My sister and I watch Stranger Things together, usually. This summer she actually watched the entire season before I did, and I was totally betrayed.
I think I have spent the most time in the last few months watching movies on Disney Plus. I will watch Disney animated classics, Disney Channel Original Movies, and all the Marvel movies. My friends and I love to bounce around these three categories on Friday and Saturday nights while we sit in my room pretending to get work done during the movies. We love watching movies like Thor: Ragnarok, Avalon High, and Coco. I think those three are our feel-good movies that we include in almost every binge weekend, if we do not have something else on the list already.
I have recently gotten into nature documentaries as well. I typically don’t like documentaries, because I want to be able to multitask and work on something while I watch movies (a bad study habit, I know). However, one day my friend Gill told me to pick something on Netflix to watch when it was just me and her. When I couldn’t find anything, but I needed to study for a Plant Physiology test, I decided on Our Planet on Netflix. We watched an episode and then I had to go to work. We were hooked in that one episode – we got too emotionally invested in baby flamingos and made The Lion King references when we saw the wildebeests. Later that evening, we came back and watched more of the documentary. We got so into it that we did not realize it was 2:00 in the morning until Netflix informed us that there were no more episodes for us to watch.
More recently, I have also binge watched TikTok videos. I can spend hours watching the hilarious videos of puppies dancing or running away from their reflection. My friends also binge TikTok videos, and we love sharing our favorites with each other. My sister and I will use our Google Chromecast to cast TikTok videos to our TV when we are in our dorm. It is funny to see how long we will watch what is essentially the same video. I have spent 2 or 3 hours just watching videos on my phone.
@aussiesdointhings He really do be vibin tho (IG newyorkcitypuppy) ##foryoupage ##dogsoftiktok
♬ Break My Stride - Matthew Wilder
@ashton.madden They had me in the first half... I’m not going to lie... ##christian ##christianboy ##bible ##sundayfunday ##church ##Jesus ##heisrisen ##God ##foryou
♬ original sound - ashton.madden
@sierragrogan Day 4 of quarantine (yes that’s a cheez it at the end he loves them) ##fyp
♬ original sound - gabe.lucas
To me, binge watching will always be something I do with my friends. It started back in high school when I lived in the dorms at ASMSA. On the weekends, my sister and I would go into one of the lounges and camp out while we watched Doctor Who or the Harry Potter movies. When my suitemate was on campus on the weekend, we would watch New Girl all day and not leave our room. Now, in college, I spend entire weekends watching Netflix and Disney Plus with my friends. It wouldn’t be the same without them, which is why I don’t binge watch much when I am at my house. Binge watching movies has been a way that I have bonded with my friends for a long time. Binge watching without them doesn't seem as fun because I think of all the inside jokes we make at 1:00 in the morning when we have been watching movies for 6 hours.
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