When a millennial mom casually asked her kids to 'change the channel,' she learned something that made her feel really old.
If you love watching movies or TV shows, you most likely have subscriptions to multiple streaming services. Even people who may not be huge consumers of content have an account on some streaming platform or another. Ever since the pandemic hit, people have become more picky when it comes to what they want because they have been spoilt with endless content across platforms. Kids especially make full use of these websites to watch the content they love.
TikTok user Caitlyn Rhorer (@embracesupport) had an amusing observation to share about a short conversation she had with her kids while watching TV, providing insights into how kids view content. Being a millennial parent, she has captioned the video, "I feel like I'm getting old." The video has gained over 727k views on the social media site with over 1386 comments. She starts the video by saying that her kids were watching something and she told them to "change the channel."
Her kids, having been mostly exposed to streaming websites, did not know what a channel was and asked, "What's a channel?" Their reply prompted her to think about how kids today did not know about channels because of streaming. She ends the video by saying, "So they have no idea what a channel is." Many others could relate to the millennial mother's observation and shared their thoughts in the comments section.
@rondarf commented, "The first time my son saw a commercial at his grandpa's house, he lost it. He was like three and thought his show ended." @mander_792 said, "Had to tell my four-year-old nephew while in a hotel that we can't just turn his show on. We have to wait until it comes on. Explaining cable is hard."
@itsscorisaax3 shared, "I told my kids that on a commercial, they had to do something and my oldest said, 'What's a commercial?' I'm like, 'Ads. They're ads.'" @rbkb2001 said, "I'm making my kids grow up with everything I had: DVDs, outside time, toys that aren't electronics, cable, commercials, non-smartphones."
In fact, streaming has taken over the world for more than just movies. People can now find their favorite music, sporting events and even concerts on a streaming platform online. Even though the pandemic contributed to this significant shift to online platforms, it's mostly the convenience that comes with it that pulls people in.
According to Forbes, Americans were found to spend an average of 13 hours and 11 minutes every day engaged with some form of digital media. In addition to that, 78% of all U.S. households were found to have subscriptions to at least one streaming service. Netflix continues to dominate as the world's most subscribed service, with an impressive 231 million subscribers. In terms of streaming music, it was found that 82 million Americans paid an average of $10 a month for services such as Spotify. It should be noted that there has been a substantial increase of 52% in individuals who have subscribed to a streaming service.