Are you not entertained?
By: Mithun Kannan
Tags: Future, Content, Entertainment Industry, Trends

Photo by Kevin Olson on Unsplash

Recommended Entertainment Generation

Part 1

It’s a privilege. Seldom has any generation ever had access so much information as we have. The question, however, is with so much happening how do ‘you’ keep it all together. How do we get this information, why do we need it in the first place and is it all for our good. Why is one even consuming it? What makes good content anyway, why and how could it turn out in the future? Who’s creating it, ourselves, maybe. Let’s dig a bit deeper shall we.

Consumption of Information, or content over the past few months, since the pandemic, via the number of OTT platforms, YT channels, podcasts and Facebook content, fake news and great views have fueled consumption that has been unparalleled in what may be the history of content. Creators are having a tough time filling the need gap with snackable content, it’s like a wild feeding frenzy and there is no meat to go around. Traditional industries like corporate Broadcast behemoths (TV and Radio) have jumped onto the digital band wagon with more heart than earlier (they only partially believed in digital in the pre- covid world anyway) and it’s a pot-pouri of content out there today. Genres are being defined, niche content suddenly finds a market and Writers and artists are being asked to re-skill themselves, are advised and guided to make a better product for the smaller screen in our lives. ‘TV used to be called the Small Screen, by the way’. Well not anymore Dorothy. All you need is a Smart phone and a data connection and your hooked, its great for business. None of the platforms or creators are crying as they did a few years back. Consumption is high, period. Your data consumption is high too. And, us white collared digital elites, don’t mind it as long as we get our fix even if it is a construed point of view from an over zealous editorial desk, well… we can always turn a blind eye to it because we have more choices eyeing for our time.

Which brings us to Recommendation engines that fire away, the moment we read an article or view a piece of content. Algorithms suggesting the best for, you, the user based on your consumption pattern. It’s like this cool kid in class you don’t know too well but s/he always knows so much about you and knows just what to show you to keep you interested in them. Day in Day out, they tell you, based on what they know about you, how to be that persona of cool. Always marginally swinging your game, showing you a different world with just a wee bit of change and just like that — you are hooked. Well, there is just one problem, there’s an agenda, a driving of the narrative, a creation of a character, and we all know it, but why bother when you can sit back and chill. That’s how we are handheld towards the path of enlightenment (or not) with very little effort.

And then there is Seeding of an idea, via, a story line into the mind of the audience, which can set about a vast change in behaviour. The idea is to repeatedly promote the same in multiple avenues or media. What it does is build patterns of thought, perception and action. Yes, you read that right, there is a reason you have a perspective of view; and it’s aided by external factors and some intrinsic values one develops from 0your closest association — family. What does that have to do with entertainment? You consume that, what is recommended and you will believe what you see repeatedly.

To sum it, we watch, like, share, comment or promote a thought that’s been recommended unknowingly to us, ‘the viewer’ and it has potential to define how you think. We are at a moment in time where there is so much to see and do (like, share, comment, promote) on our devices, that, ‘TIME’, the very ‘availability of time’ from an individual is the only limiting factor for any platform or provider. Irrespective of age group, gender or location.

That said we touch upon Evolution. To cater to the gap where an audience doesn’t have time came the edited short format content. First it was the cut down version of Long format content ( 22 min shows)but now it’s a whole new game and it’s resting on many platforms. Creators today are investing time and a lot of effort(money); however, the conventional editorial content (traditional broadcast led content ) isn’t what’s being consumed in mass. It’s the user generated content (UGC). And the UGC isn’t just the plain ‘Charlie bit my finger’ kind of stuff one saw during the early days of YouTube. UGC today, blends with content that is popular or trending, and that usually tends to be from a corporation like the use of licensed music underlays. Creators are uniquely creating their own mark with niche content on these platforms from dubbed content to self-help to DIY. The stickiness is high and the lack of time in our lives has spurted the growth of the steroid fed short format, a.k.a, the snippet, the vine(that died), the snap, the reel, the fleets all with the layers of bells and whistles to keep you engaged, to share on social media. Unknowingly, You are the content. It’s like we walked into the Truman show (Jim Carey film — google it) the camera is on you. You have the option to be a part of it or not.

Traditionally content was programmed, today it’s provided to you based on a set of data points, is that a good thing? Yes and No. The answer to that, depends on which side of the screen you are on. The future of what we are consuming today is changing. What you are doing with that content also changed and will so in future.

End of Part 1