this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2023
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One of the worst catalysts of this is when channels started dropping entire seasons of shows at once online to appease le epic binge watching culture. But when everyone watches something new like that at once, there's no time to actually appreciate anything or discuss the story or build anticipation, it just gets burned through and forgotten within 2 weeks.
It does still allow for catch-up at the end of the run though. I prefer to binge watch, but now I wait a few months for it all to be released and then watch it. Which still doesn't allow for week to week discussion, but fits my watching patterns better.
Yea for sure.
I think that whole thing of dropping whole seasons and how it’s kinda faded somewhat is an interesting case study of this particular internet culture moment.
Where we think we want more and faster but have lost sight that that’s just a dumb dopamine mentality left unbalanced and unmitigated and that we actually prefer more traditional forms of various things.
At the same time look at novels, when one comes out it doesn't get released one 10 pages chapter at a time...
Sometimes they do. Dickens and Tolstoy wrote and published serially. So do an awful lot of fanfic writers in the present day.
And then there was the weekly Dracula thing popular on Tumblr a few years ago where they take a non serialized novel (as far as I know) and split it up based on the dates of the correspondence within, going a level further than serialization and delivering the story "real time" as the letters and newspapers were sent/published in the story.
Serial writing used to be a big thing, and even today there's a reason for the popularity of fanfics and webnovels. Hell, remember Homestuck?
True. But then reading is probably a more self-limiting format than film/tv. At least for most people.
The only reason they've gone back to slow drip releases is to milk your engagement and subscription.
Okay and what's wrong with seeking engagement with whatever they're making (which every person who makes anything does) and trying to ensure continued subscription, which makes sense given the business? I agree that streaming has generally become ridiculous and diluted, but there's nothing inherently wrong with wanting people to watch stuff and attempting to ensure a steady revenue stream to do it.
Is watching the whole series not enough? For me it's removing the option to choose my own pace. People can choose to watch slowly if they want, but you can't binge if it's not available. I dont even bother with shows until the whole season is out, so it's limiting the engagement for me, but that's my own preference.
A lot of people cancel after watching the series. Releasing over several weeks allows for a continual revenue stream over those weeks. For people who like bingeing, the show is pretty much always up in full at the end of its run.