I mean I don’t watch “normal” TV either but I can see the potential appeal.
Most TV is just trash and a waste of time anyway so for some I guess the feeling of connection is more important than the particular content.
Take Saturday night telly for example. There’s a really long street near me full of kinda posh-looking terrace houses and the living rooms are really easy to see into, especially at dusk before the curtains get closed.
Sometimes I walk down the road on a Saturday night and you see such a diverse range of people from families to young couples to old people sat with a blanket on their own all watching the same program which there’s something quite nice about I think. Likewise with things like Strictly, Bake-off etc people seem to enjoy watching the episodes at the same time so they can discuss with their friends/on social media.
I don’t watch sports either but I’m in a WhatsApp group with some friends and every now and again a message will just randomly appear saying something like “shit effort” and I know there must be a football game on. It’s kinda nice that they can just assume the others are watching.
Basically I think when you’re watching for entertainment, being able to curate your experience more is really great, but there’s a social dimension to scheduled telly that I think some might still appreciate.
It’s dying, though. I do social watching with friends all the time, and pretty much no one I can think of sees anything as it’s being broadcast. Kids, work, timezones, etc all get in the way.
I mean I don’t watch “normal” TV either but I can see the potential appeal.
Most TV is just trash and a waste of time anyway so for some I guess the feeling of connection is more important than the particular content.
Take Saturday night telly for example. There’s a really long street near me full of kinda posh-looking terrace houses and the living rooms are really easy to see into, especially at dusk before the curtains get closed.
Sometimes I walk down the road on a Saturday night and you see such a diverse range of people from families to young couples to old people sat with a blanket on their own all watching the same program which there’s something quite nice about I think. Likewise with things like Strictly, Bake-off etc people seem to enjoy watching the episodes at the same time so they can discuss with their friends/on social media.
I don’t watch sports either but I’m in a WhatsApp group with some friends and every now and again a message will just randomly appear saying something like “shit effort” and I know there must be a football game on. It’s kinda nice that they can just assume the others are watching.
Basically I think when you’re watching for entertainment, being able to curate your experience more is really great, but there’s a social dimension to scheduled telly that I think some might still appreciate.
It’s dying, though. I do social watching with friends all the time, and pretty much no one I can think of sees anything as it’s being broadcast. Kids, work, timezones, etc all get in the way.