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As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

economist.com

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Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#121

Post by watwut »

slibhb wrote: post #112
krapp wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, having the one black or gay character in a tv show is obvious tokenism, particularly when portrayed as shallow stereotype, but it seems to me as if any attempt at representation nowadays is written off as "political" or tokenism, even when it's sincere. It's like, you can have Asians OR Latinos OR Blacks OR gays but no more than two, and they can't stack, and you definitely can't rewrite an existing character t…

> Sure, having the one black or gay character in a tv show is obvious tokenism, particularly when portrayed as shallow stereotype, but it seems to me as if any attempt at representation nowadays is written off as "political" or tokenism, even when it's sincere. This is the crux of the issue. To me, "attempts at representation" are demeaning by definition . Giving someone a part because of their skin color or sex or s…

Yeah, if all characters are white guys, we know it is because of them being all super awesome. Mediocre white guy characters are everywhere and where everywhere. Why is it such an insult to be those roles filled by others?

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#122

Post by gred »

patrick451 wrote: post #90
hotcold wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely not, the central theme of every movie, sporting event, advertisement, or news article must be DIVERSITY DIVERSITY DIVERSITY!

Yup. Most of entertainment has turned into leftist propaganda. It's simultaneously banal and offensive.

Interestingly, this has been pushing me to watch quite a bit of international content on Netflix -- Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and some European series.

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#123

Post by neolog »

cronix wrote: post #115
Mountain_Skies wrote: post #4

Ratings for sporting events are down dramatically. People generally aren't returning to movie theaters. According to the article, overall media consumption is up 30 minutes per week, which makes me wonder if what happened was mostly a case of habit destruction. Now that habits have been disturbed, trends that were already taking place were accelerated. Is there any reason to think people will break their new habits t…

In the last year I've cancelled my cable service, totally deleted facebook and twitter accounts, quit watching (new) movies, quit watching pro sports and several other things. Why? I feel like I'm being preached to constantly rather than entertained, and not just a little bit here and there. It's constant. I refuse to pay for it or be a part of it. It offers no value to me anymore. Why would I pay for or be a part of…

relevant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n3WgiMftaU

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#124

Post by decodebytes »

grae_QED wrote: post #18

Good. I hope they all go out of business. Their predatory practices are the reason why social media is so toxic. I'm honestly amazed that companies haven't figured out that advertisements are far less effective than they claim to be and they are probably over spending on them [1]. [1] https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/research/resear...

It really is. The stuff facebook serves to me is just so badly wrong it's hilarious that they are taken someone's money to show me an add which if anything is going to result in me even less likely to buy the product

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#125

Post by krapp »

slibhb wrote: post #112
krapp wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, having the one black or gay character in a tv show is obvious tokenism, particularly when portrayed as shallow stereotype, but it seems to me as if any attempt at representation nowadays is written off as "political" or tokenism, even when it's sincere. It's like, you can have Asians OR Latinos OR Blacks OR gays but no more than two, and they can't stack, and you definitely can't rewrite an existing character t…

> Sure, having the one black or gay character in a tv show is obvious tokenism, particularly when portrayed as shallow stereotype, but it seems to me as if any attempt at representation nowadays is written off as "political" or tokenism, even when it's sincere. This is the crux of the issue. To me, "attempts at representation" are demeaning by definition . Giving someone a part because of their skin color or sex or s…

>To me, "attempts at representation" are demeaning by definition. Giving someone a part because of their skin color or sex or sexual orientation is demeaning.

Aren't you moving the goalposts? I thought we were talking about characters, not actors. Two entirely different arguments, and I know a lot of LGBTQ+ people who would be offended at a straight person playing gay or transgender, and a lot of POC people who take issue with "whitewashing" in Hollywood. But the people who complain about the "agenda" behind non-straight, non-white characters don't tend to complain when non-white roles get cast by white actors.

Do you consider writing non-white, non-straight characters to be demeaning by definition?

Is a Muslim, Pakistani-American Ms. Marvel demeaning to Muslims and Pakistanis? In a field where Muslims and Middle-Easterners are rarely portrayed in a positive light, if at all? Even if Kamala Khan is written by a Pakistani Muslim, and based partly on her own lived experiences?

Is adding the possibility of gay romance or sex in a video game demeaning to gay people? If so, why isn't straight sex in a video game isn't demeaning to straight people?

>You have to cast an actor or write a part because you thought the actor was good or the part works, not as part of an "attempt at representation".

And what I'm saying is that's exactly what happens more often than you and many people seem willing to believe. It's just assumed that every non-white, non-straight character or role exists only for the sake of "diversity points."

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#126

Post by Enginerrrd »

slibhb wrote: post #112
krapp wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, having the one black or gay character in a tv show is obvious tokenism, particularly when portrayed as shallow stereotype, but it seems to me as if any attempt at representation nowadays is written off as "political" or tokenism, even when it's sincere. It's like, you can have Asians OR Latinos OR Blacks OR gays but no more than two, and they can't stack, and you definitely can't rewrite an existing character t…

> Sure, having the one black or gay character in a tv show is obvious tokenism, particularly when portrayed as shallow stereotype, but it seems to me as if any attempt at representation nowadays is written off as "political" or tokenism, even when it's sincere. This is the crux of the issue. To me, "attempts at representation" are demeaning by definition . Giving someone a part because of their skin color or sex or s…

I agree. There's also the issue that typically the token minorities really seem to be sanitized of their actual culture too. They're white characters played by minority actors. And as a result, it feels patronizing to the viewer and the minorities.

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#127

Post by amelius »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #116
hmsshagatsea wrote: post #13

How about hollywood starts making GOOD content again?

When GOOD content sells, they will. The best films of the year regularly make less money in their entire lifespan than a mediocre Marvel movie.

That's because "good" depends on who you ask.

The free market produces for the masses.

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#128

Post by cblconfederate »

akudha wrote: post #7
briefcomment wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

N=1, I spend all my media time on Youtube. Haven't watched a show in years. Watched some of the NBA playoffs though. Also watched Tenet in a huge empty theater.

I wonder if this will result in more outrageous, more clickbait junk from media outlets, desperate for audience attention. Even more than it is now. I am spending more time on YouTube too. I used to watch Netflix, but it has been downhill last 3 years or so.

more likely youtube will adopt the onlyfans model once people start getting tired of the clickbait useless vids

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#129

Post by amelius »

marto1 wrote: post #76
GekkePrutser wrote: post #45

I can totally imagine that. I cancelled my TV subscription as it was all about corona all the time. So depressing. Now that I've done without for so long I don't think ever getting live TV again. My use of mainstream news sites has also dropped to near zero, just a one check per day. I focus more on tech news these days (stuff that really matters :) )

Now realize a lot of people just..kept watching. Scary stuff.

It was just the same news over and over again ...

Re: As lockdowns lift, media firms brace for an “attention recession”

#130

Post by cblconfederate »

ehnto wrote: post #9
akudha wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if this will result in more outrageous, more clickbait junk from media outlets, desperate for audience attention. Even more than it is now. I am spending more time on YouTube too. I used to watch Netflix, but it has been downhill last 3 years or so.

What's strange to me is that while YouTube seems to be stealing a lot of attention, the creators on the platform are so often complaining the platform and having to build out non-platform revenue streams in order for it to make sense. Is it that they expect more than their fair share, or is YouTube leveraging their creators more than they should, or are adblockers the issue? I'm not sure what it is, it just surprises…

Youtube makes money from ads, unlike other video communities like onlyfans , so most likely the cut that creators take doesn't cut it. Currently it seems creators use it as a social tool to raise awareness of their moneymaking product , but that leads to more and more videos being ads themselves, which is leads to google's recurring issue: spam.

If youtube made money from subscriptions the interests of youtube and creators would align better. As it is now it's on a spiral of more and more spam and self-reference which will eventually turn it to a ghost town (because unlike google search, all the video content is in their platform)

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