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How On-Demand Entertainment Turned Us Into Picky Little Content Goblins
Our attention spans are fried and the algorithm is our chef
Remember a time, not too long ago, when people sat down to watch whatever happened to be on TV?
I know, right? The horror. No “skip intro” button and no algorithm that highlights your secret obsession with ‘80s vampire flicks. You got Wheel of Fortune or any show that was on, and you liked it. Scratch that, you had to like it. You weren’t watching your show, but the show. The one that was on at 8 p.m. on a Tuesday.
Fast forward to 2025, and our generation seems to have mutated into fickle, hyper-personalized content creatures.
We want what we want, when we want it, and we’d really appreciate it if it came in under 90 seconds with captions, a custom vibe, and just the right mix of entertainment and existential dread. And we’ll even pay extra for the ad-free version that still somehow has ads.
This shift marks a whole new relationship with how we engage with information, stories and culture, and I want to explore it a bit further. Let’s break it down, shall we?
