The rapid advancement of technology, particularly in the mass media, has ushered in an era of instant gratification. The modern world demands information, entertainment, and even social relationships to be instantly accessible. Real-time updates are provided by social media sites like Twitter and Instagram, while on-demand access to huge material libraries is provided by streaming services like Netflix and Spotify. Patience is becoming harder to come by in this digital age. This change has advantages like quick sharing of knowledge, but disadvantages include worries about attention spans getting shorter. (Kolodzy, 2012) emphasizes this change and suggests that journalism's convergence is a reaction to these shifting expectations, making stories more accessible across media.
Watch Clayton Christensen describe the specifics of innovative disruption for a deeper look at this topic.
There is rising worry about the emotional and psychological effects of this "instant" society in addition to the obvious changes in our consumption habits. With everything available right away, there is less motivation to wait or persevere, which could weaken our endurance and patience. Additionally, the breadth and quality of the information may suffer in the race to deliver real-time updates and content. However, not all of this paradigm shift's effects are bad; it also fosters creativity.
Spotify and Netflix are two instances of how changes in society's expectations and culture are the result of technological innovation in the media.
Spotify: Changing How People Consume and Discover Music.
Access: Before services like Spotify, users would either buy entire albums for a few of their favorite songs or listen to radio stations, frequently putting up with commercials and unfavorite music; this established an on-demand culture.
Playlists: The advent of algorithm-based playlists like "Discover Weekly" has widened listeners' horizons by introducing them to genres and artists they might not have otherwise encountered. This customization function has had a big impact on cultural preferences, making music appreciation more diverse and inclusive.
The addition of podcasts by Spotify has increased customer expectations for a multi-media experience from music streaming services. The distinctions between traditional media classifications have become blurry as a result.
A Pioneer in the Digital Shift of Television Consumption is Netflix
Television series were historically watched on a weekly basis. Binge-watching culture. Each week, a new episode was released, generating interest in the following one. By distributing complete seasons of their original series at once, Netflix upended this established model. The "binge-watching" fad, in which fans watch numerous episodes or even a whole season in one sitting, was created as a result of this tactic. This change in consumption habits mirrors a more general societal trend toward promptness and on-demand access (Bakare, 2018).
Worldwide Storytelling: Netflix has made stories from various parts of the world available to viewers. Viewers have welcomed storytelling outside of their cultural and linguistic comfort zones, from German series like "Dark" to Spanish dramas like "Money Heist." This has increased cultural understanding and promoted greater global empathy. (Bakare, 2018)
References:
Kolodzy, J. (2012). Practicing Convergence Journalism. Taylor & Francis. https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781136222825
Bakare, L. (2018) Netflix has forever changed The way we consume television | Lanre Bakare, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jul/21/netflix-gamble-original-content-changed-way-consume-television-forever
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