Exclusive preview of “Abundance: The Experience of Living in a World Full of Information”, by Pablo J. Boczkowski

Chapter 5: Entertainment

Apego

The comments of many interviewees about their practices show a significant level of attachment to the audiovisual content they watch in their homes. There was no comparable pattern with regard to going to the movies, the theater or the museum. This, at the same time, marks another significant difference between the consumption of entertainment inside and outside the home. In addition, the analysis reveals a strong connection between this level of attachment, on the one hand, and the constant abundance and availability of content perceived as attractive, on the other hand. This is particularly prevalent in the case of fiction serialized through streaming platforms; it is slightly present in soap operas and does not apply at all to watching movies at home. Attachment shapes not only the content people watch, but also indirectly the programming they choose not to consume. Finally, although it tends to be linked to a perception of low levels of efficiency, some interviewees comment on how they limit their viewing practices to counteract what they consider to be negative effects of being connected to audiovisual entertainment at home.

The next dialogue took place during an interview with Marcelino, a 41-year-old teacher.

Interviewer: When was the last time you watched television, but not to watch news?

Marcellin: A couple of hours ago.

Interviewer: How? On the computer or on the TV?

Marcellin: No, on the TV. I watched eight episodes in a row of a series that drives me crazy.

Interviewer: Would you tell me which one?

Marcelino: Limitless.

Interviewer: Is it new?

Marcellin: Yes, yes, it's incredible.

Interviewer: Well, I'm going to...

Marcelino [interrupts]: No, no, I recommend it. You don't know what it is!

Interviewer [laughs]: Do you like series a lot?

Marcelino: I'm a fan of series, but besides that, Netflix allows you to watch an entire season of one.

[…]

Interviewer: And how much time do you spend watching television?

Marcellin: Uh... [thinks]. Well, I usually get home between 21 and 22. I live alone. I cook, finish dinner or sometimes make myself a sandwich, go to bed and turn on the TV, until two or three in the morning... I watch chapters!

Beyond the irony of being connected to a series called Limitless, this dialogue illustrates the existence of a strong bond between people and content — both in terms of time spent and emotional connection — and the association of this experience with the abundance of available programming. Joaquín, a 28-year-old systems analyst, says: “I consume Netflix to death and it can be several hours. On weekends when I don't want to do anything, I consume Netflix from the moment I wake up until the night.” For Ramiro, a student, Game of Thrones: “It blew my mind. I started late [...] And I watched two seasons during a week's vacation.” Laura, the student, comments that the day before the interview she had watched Netflix. And he adds, “All day. What a mess! I get addicted if I get hooked up with a series.” Tatiana, the librarian, confesses: “I'm not one of those people who can see a little chapter a day. I mean, if I look at something, I have to finish it.” He comments on the moment when he discovers a series he likes: “It's an obstacle in my life. [...] Because suddenly I have to finish it, that is, you have the whole series on Netflix.” Lucila, the office worker, shares Tatiana's ambivalent feeling, although that doesn't stop her: “Last Saturday night I watched six episodes of Girls... But it ceases to be a source of enjoyment to become an obligation.”

As evidenced by the testimonies of Joaquín, Ramiro, Laura, Tatiana and Lucila, the attachment to audiovisual content is particularly strong in the case of serialized fiction. The interviewees say that this is because of the confluence between two factors. On the one hand, there is a lack of closure at the end of any given chapter and continuity throughout the chapters — which also applies to other television genres such as soap operas. On the other hand, the availability of entire seasons on streaming services, satellite television and online sites makes a difference from watching series and soap operas on broadcast and cable television. As a result, attachment shapes not only the content people watch, but also what they choose not to watch — series against soap operas and movies. In addition, it is linked to the perception of relatively low levels of self-efficacy. Mariana, a 39-year-old architect, says she prefers series to movies on television:

It takes longer to [watch] a movie than a series, a chapter in a series. And it's like there's always something pending in the series, always. So I want to know what happens, how it goes on. [...] It's like with the series, until I finish them. [...] There's a thread [between episodes], and I want to keep watching it until the end.

By contrast, Stanislaus, the office worker, prefers to watch soap operas on open television rather than streaming series: “The soap opera is over, while the series are not. [...] You have the possibility to continue watching. [...] With soap operas, you are obliged to wait until the next broadcast to watch it [again]”. He adds that with the series via streaming: “Maybe it's hard to stop and tell you, 'no, I stop here and watch a single chapter'. [...] It's hard to have self-control.” Humberto, a 49-year-old businessman and lawyer, prefers movies to series: “Not because I like them better, but because the series really hook me up, and they force me to want to watch all the episodes of one. And I don't have the patience or the time available to do it.” Similarly, Carla, a 45-year-old lawyer, states:

I don't watch series, because they absorb me a lot and generate greed. And since I have to work the next day and I need to sleep, I try not to watch series. Unless we spend the entire weekend watching a series, I prefer to watch a movie that starts and ends.

The comments of Stanislaus, Humberto and Carla illustrate not only the perception of low levels of self-efficacy, but also that people develop measures to limit their exposure to content they feel they might develop attachment to. Some of these measures are seasonal, such as limiting exposure to certain times of the year with fewer obligations, such as holidays. Juana, the student, says: “The only time I use [Netflix] is in the summer, when I don't have classes or things like that.” She adds that during that time: “I watch one series after another, I spend the whole day hooked on Netflix. [...] Boom, boom, boom, you finish a series in less than a week, three days.” Or they're based on time. Marina, the financial analyst, comments that when she wrote her undergraduate thesis, she had a rule: “Four hours of thesis every day [and] forty minutes of Netflix.” But others are more extreme and completely refrain from watching fiction serialized by streaming, as was the case with Isabel, the student described in the Preface.

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