Put two together and watch what happens
What do you call a person who watches TV? That’s right. A TV viewer.
Next question.
What do you call two or more people who watch TV together?
Sorry. Wrong answer.
Don’t feel bad though. Almost everyone thinks “TV Viewers” is the right answer. But it’s not. Let me explain.
Consider this scenario:
A guy goes home, sits on the couch and thinks to himself, “I think I’ll watch some TV.”
So he does.
After a while, he turns the TV off and gets on with his life.
That’s a TV viewer. No argument there.
But when you put two or more of these people in the same room, something bizarre happens.
…messages that someone took great pains to craft go by without leaving so much as a scratch.
See for yourself:
Person 1: “Want to watch some TV?”
Person 2: “Sure.”
They turn on the television. Within 3 to 5 seconds person 1 says, “Look at that woman’s hair. It’s awful.”
Person 2 says, “She probably thinks it looks great.”
“Speaking of awful, listen to the dialog. Who writes this crap?”
“Yeah, let’s see what other shows are on.”
Person 1 changes the channel, then points to the TV and says, “Hey, I used to have a jacket like that.”
Person 2 says, “I don’t know why she’s wearing a jacket. It doesn’t look that cold.”
“Yeah. This is stupid. Let’s see what else is on.”
This goes on for hours. Channels are changed. Comments are made. And messages that someone took great pains to craft go by without leaving so much as a scratch.
I submit that these people are not TV viewers; they are TV commentators.
Put two or more people together to consume a piece of media and if they have an opportunity to talk amongst themselves at the same time, talk they will.
I am not pointing this out to be funny or to vent – okay, not solely to be funny or to vent. I am pointing this out because I think there’s an important lesson here for all of us.…if our media can be consumed by both individuals and groups, we face a similar dilemma. But few media producers realize this. As a result, even fewer are able to compensate for it.
In today’s interconnected world, we are all media producers. If we talk, we’re creating media. If we write, we’re creating media. If we create a PowerPoint presentation, we’re creating media. And if our media can be consumed by both individuals and groups, we face a similar dilemma.
For example…
There may be individuals willing to listen to our presentations, but put two of them together and they’ll no longer be listeners; they’ll be critics.
There may be individuals willing to visit our websites, but put two of them together and they’ll no longer be visitors; they’ll be commentators.
There may be individuals willing to watch our movies, but put two of them together and they’ll no longer be movie goers; they’ll be movie reviewers.
But few media producers realize this. As a result, even fewer are able to compensate for it.
With the millions of “critics” out there, how long will it be before they come across your site, your presentation, or your pet project?
And what will they be saying about it?
And how many seconds will they give it before they move onto their next target?
If we cannot control the environment in which our media will be consumed, perhaps the best we can do is is build in plenty of interesting things for people to talk about.
These are sobering questions to consider. But if we want to have any hope of being heard, any hope of getting our points across, they’re worth thinking about.
It is one thing to create media that is compelling enough to grab and maintain the attention of an individual. It is quite another to create media that can withstand the opinions and distractions of the many.
If we cannot control the environment in which our media will be consumed, perhaps the best we can do is is build in plenty of interesting things for people to talk about. Though we may not have their undivided attention, at least we have a fraction of it. And if we do this, maybe, just maybe, they’ll stick around long enough to absorb a bit of what we were trying to communicate.
Now, I know what you’re probably thinking about this post. It’s something like:
“This is all mildly interesting in that weird ‘Blair’ sort of way.”
Right?
Unless, of course, you’re reading this with a friend. In that case you’re probably thinking:
“Who writes this crap?”
“Yeah, let’s find some other bloggers we can make fun of.”
I understand; my friends and I often do the very same thing. In fact, we’re going to do it later day.
Heck, we might even stumble across something that you worked hard to create. Stranger things have happened.
Posted on Sunday, March 02, 2008 at 11:32 AM
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(4) Reader Comments about Put two together and watch what happens
John Thomas says...
Blair,
The music producer Brian Eno (U2, David Bowie, James, Roxie Music, inventor of Ambient Music, etc.) has been working with this concept of the environment in which music is heard provides the context and, therefore, filters the perception and interpretation of the music. Fascinating stuff.
You can read a book that deals with that and other aspects of Eno’s concepts of music and media (for free) at
http://www.erictamm.com/tammeno.html
Enjoy!
- John
Posted on 03/02/2008 at 01:54 PM
Tom Welsh says...
Perhaps I am weird here (OK, no perhaps about it) but I rarely watch TV and when I do I am generally alone. I have a running “internal commentating” series, whereby I am making all these judgements and remarks to myself. I usually agree. (Apologies for the above to my macaw, Ruby. She is almost always present during TV-watching. She comments a lot, especially if we are watching a nature show about birds. I defer to her opinions on these matters.)
Posted on 03/02/2008 at 03:28 PM
Robo says...
Brain fart of the day. To avoid “the critic”, make sure your viewer would be too embarrassed to (watch|read|listen to) your content when anyone else is around.
I’m not just talking about pr0n. There’s the whole “guilty pleasures” approach (okay, porn is part of that but not all of that). There’s also everything from gossip websites to Mr Rogers Neighborhood.
Posted on 03/03/2008 at 12:38 PM
C says...
I enjoy watching TV alone, or with the girlfriend. I also like talking or yelling at the TV. After they started airing more commercials and programming that belittle men I started losing interest and canceled my cable. Every show, every commercial, every news piece revolves around put-downs. Something is always someone else’s fault, it never ends. What a circus.
Posted on 03/10/2008 at 02:52 PM
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