The Rise of Online Gaming

Online gaming is becoming an increasingly popular phenomenon. From games available on smartphones, tablets, iPads and laptops, users can play from home or on the go. Just like online streaming devices such as Netflix or Hulu Plus, online gaming has taken over and this form of entertainment is not going to lose momentum soon.

A Growing Industry

From the article The Time Is Here For Online Gaming featured on Forbes.com, “online gaming or iGaming as it has been called, has grown into a multi-billion dollar business.” This industry has continued to grow at a considerable rate because of its users. From data collected from the Entertainment Software Association, 63% of US households are home to at least one person who plays video games regularly. (That’s 3 hours or more per week!) In conjunction to this 63%, 65% of US households own a device used to play video games. Out of these gamers, the average player is 35 years old. Being more specific, the most frequent female game player is on average 44 years old and the average male gamer is 35 years old. Males dominate the gaming field with 59% of game players being male while only 41% are female.

What types of games are users playing?

The top three types of video games that the most frequent gamers play on wireless or mobile devices are:

• Puzzle/board game/card game/game shows at 38%
• Action at 6%
• Strategy at 6%

Personally, I’m in congruence with this statistic as all the games on my iPhone or play online are puzzle or board game oriented such as Words with Friends, Trivia Crack or Quiz Up.

Side Effects

However, with this growing industry come negatives. From Video Gaming in a Hyperconnected World: A cross-sectional study of heavy gaming, problematic gaming symptoms, and online socializing in adolescents, heavy gaming correlates with depressive symptoms and behaviors. Users who spend unhealthy amounts of time gaming can develop depression, poor social skills or even an addiction. Signs or symptoms of a gaming addiction include: Lying to friends or family regarding the amount of time spent playing, feelings of restlessness and/or irritability and voluntary isolation from others in order to spend more time gaming.

Moving Forward

Just like social media and online streaming services, online gaming is another industry on the rise. Only time will tell how this phenomenon will grow in the years to come.

Sources:

Essential Facts about The Computer and Video Gaming Industry 

The Rise of Online Gaming in 2016

The Time is Here for Online Gaming 

Signs and Symptoms of Video Gaming Addiction

Video Gaming in a Hyperconnected World: A cross-sectional study of heavy gaming, problematic gaming symptoms, and online socializing in adolescents

Introducing the Newest Model of Television: The Laptop Computer

There has never been a better era to be a couch potato: a ceaseless stream of shows, old and new, delivered online without pricey cable or satellite packages. Netflix and other on-demand viewing websites are stealing everyone’s eyes, couch potatoes and average TV viewers alike.

Netflix at a Glance

Netflix is a streaming service provider, which offers a large library with diversified content for subscribers and users on multiple platforms. The Netflix content is available to stream on mobiles, computers and different television devices. The streaming empire started in 1997 and from 2015 statistics, consists of more than 60 million subscribers worldwide.

Television Take Over

Netflix has grown to become one of the world’s favorite Internet entertainment options over Cable Television for a multitude of reasons.

One is how money is the root of TV’s problems. In the US, TV and Internet access costs two to three times what is does in the UK, and Americans are increasingly trading their steep cable bills in favor of Netflix and streaming services. Personally, I cannot remember the last time I watched cable television – I have completely switched over to streaming services.

In addition, from data released by Neilson, over 40% of US homes have access to an SVOD service (Subscription Video on Demand) and 13% of homes boasted multiple streaming services, like Netflix or Hulu Plus. However, Netflix still beats out other streaming sites in regards to presence in US households at 36 percent having Netflix, 13 percent having Amazon Prime and 6.5 percent having Hulu Plus.

 

What’s all the hype about anyway?

By airing complete seasons of shows on their site, Netflix has made watching television easier than ever before. Viewers do not have to wait until the following week to see the next episode; they can simply click “next” on their screens. This “binge-watching” model has absorbed countless hours of Netflix users’ time and keeps them coming back for more.

From an article published in The New York Times, Netflix itself studied subscriber’s viewing habits, breaking these habits down into categories such as: “The Very Fast Binger,” “The Fairly Quick Binger” and “The Slightly More Relaxed Binger.” While these categories are humorous, the data behind them shows just how much viewers tune in on Netflix. In the first category, the medium about of time for a user to finish a season is only four days! Also, time spent watching each day is about 2 hours and 30 minutes! The shows these speedy watchers are into are a part of horror, thriller and sci-fi genres such as “Breaking Bad,” “American Horror Story,” and “The Fall.” I have watched all these shows so; here I am readers, admitting I am too a “Very Fast Binger.”

Concluding Thoughts

Whether viewers can watch a season of television in four days or four months, Netflix is stealing the hearts of TV viewers because of its accessible, simple, fast and on demand features. Streaming content is the future of television and only time will tell if the Television Industry can keep up with this tough competitor.

Sources:

10 Things That Are Pricier in the US than in Britain

20 Netflix Streaming Statistics

Binge-Watching Habit Article, The New York Times

Nielson Data

Always Online: What are Internet users actually doing?

The Internet has become an extension to everyday life. From iPhones, iPads, laptops and tablets, users can be connected every second of the day. But how is this time actually spent? With access to a wide range of media on this single media platform, there are a multitude of routes to take.

Specifically regarding entertainment, the Internet can be a source of un-interrupted amusement for its users. So, what are Internet users actually doing?

According to data from go-gulf.com, these are the top three ways people use the Internet:

• Social Networking – 22%
• Searches – 21%
• Reading Content – 20%

Additionally, popular activities on the Internet include:

• Hobbies – 83%
• Info search on buying products – 78%
• Entertainment – 72%

The categories listed above are all ways in which users are entertaining themselves while online. Entertainment from the Internet is so easily done because users are narrowcasting themselves, a term found in John Vivian’s text The Media of Mass Communication.

Narrowcasting is defined as “seeking niche audiences, as opposed to broadcasting’s traditional audience-building concept.” When going online with the sole purpose of wanting to be entertained, Internet users are seeking ‘niche sites’ as opposed to ‘traditional audience-building’ concepts or a heterogeneous audience. The user searches for sites and activities specifically for them when wanting to be entertained. They do not look for an activity a general audience will enjoy with them. While consumers choose their websites, it’s important to realize that websites choose their consumers as well. Buzzfeed is just one website that uses intriguing and specific titles on its articles and quizzes to attract specific audiences. For example, a quiz titled “How Well Do You Know Salvadoran Slang?” does not appeal to a mass audience, but will be specifically popular with a niche audience.

Further, once the user has found the entertainment source desired, they enter what psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihaly calls flow in danah boyd’s novel it’s complicated. Flow is that state of complete and utter absorption. Have you ever been humorously dragged into a flow that lasts for hours at a time? You think you will spend just five minutes on Facebook but that five minutes turns into an hour…yes, we have all been there.

Searching for entertainment through the Internet is an individualistic, time-consuming and common activity for all. What makes the practice worthwhile is how all users can search for entertainment that fulfills their own needs, without having to filter through unwanted media.

Sources:

Buzzfeed.com

Go-Gulf data

it’s complicated, danah boyd

The Media of Mass Communication, John Vivian