Binge Watching Videos

Binge watching is a funny term that has come into use lately. Adding the word binge in front of eating or drinking, for example, implies something negative, such as it is bad for us to consume excess amounts of food and drink. Relative to our health of course, it would be correct to think of this behavior as one that brings negative results.

However, I think that binge watching videos is a good thing. I think of it like I think of reading books. Do people say that it is bad for you to binge on reading books? Of course not.

My experience of watching the entire series of The Wire, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Treme, The Tudors, The Borgias, Rome, Pillars of the Earth or any other excellent series has been enhanced by being able to watch chapter after chapter in succession. Doing it this way, watching a one hour show minus commercials means that I can see the episode in 40 minutes, which is a much better use of my time. Watching one episode right after another allows us to see what is going to happen to these characters or where is this story going in a natural progression without having to wait until next spring to see the next installment and then trying to remember where the story left off or how this other character figured in.

To me, it is exactly the same as reading a good book. If we are reading a book we really enjoy, do we only want to read one chapter today and then put the book away until next week and read another chapter then? Of course not. If we really like it, we might stay up half the night reading it, or continue to read it for several days or a couple weeks or whatever length of time it takes us to finish it.

Actually, I think that the technology that companies like Netflix have put into play is a great thing because it allows me to make better use of my time. If a subject interests me, I don't have to watch one chapter a week for the next few years and sit through one third of that time watching commercials to see how the story develops. I can look it up and check out the story in a concise time frame and follow it through from beginning to end. I like it.