Picture this: it is your eighth hour underneath your blankets, and the only light in the room comes from a laptop screen. The only movement comes from your pointer finger, clicking “yes” on “Are You Still Watching?” after every single episode. Your roommate comes home from their classes, silently judging you for still watching. Your desk and bed are covered in unfinished homework, unopened books. We are talking, of course, about Netflix.
With new shows like “Making a Murderer” and “Jessica Jones” filling up the queues of North Central College students, homework can fall to the wayside. These shows come, in addition, to staples such as “Lost,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Friends.”
Due to the harsh winter months, Netflix is a wildly popular option for student boredom. An email was recently sent out by the Office of Residence Life, stating that Netflix is struggling to stream its network. This haunting pause has sent students over the edge, by having to actually sit up and walk to their rooms to find a DVD.
In a recent study, The Washington Post calculated exactly how many hours it takes to watching the entirety of the most popular shows on Netflix. Original series, such as “House of Cards” and “Orange is the New Black” take a total of 40 hours to finish, but classics such as “House M.D.” and “The Simpsons” can take more than 200 hours to complete. These numbers translate into longer watching sessions — and procrastination for students.
In the winter term, some students experience a drop in motivation due to the colder weather, in the middle of the school year. This drop in motivation is caused by a number of factors. The sun sets much earlier than in the winter months, which causes a drop in Vitamin D and can affect mood levels and motivation. Weather conditions worsen in a number of blizzards and ice storms and it can lead to long days indoors, where the easiest thing to do is sit in front of a laptop.
It turns out, Netflix is in a transitional phase in terms of its audience. In more classes, professors are even bringing up popular Netflix shows in their lectures, structuring assignments around the ones that they know that their students watch. This past D-Term, an entire class was structured around the breakout original series “Orange is the New Black” and the topic of women in the prison system.
It’s easy to see that more adults, especially those who have a career directly to the college lifestyle, are watching— and binging — shows on the popular website.
Janet Mathis, a broadcast news professor had even told her class that she had recently binge-watched a number of seasons of “Game of Thrones” over the past weekend.
“I can’t speak for all professors, but it’s a new trend among adults to find shows that they like and watch episode after episode,” Mathis said. Though she said she did binge-watch those seasons, she also said it’s not a regular occurrence for her.
“I see it as a reward, after a long day. I don’t watch like that all the time,” said Mathis.
The Netflix craze is far from leaving college campuses and it will continue to fill the time of both students and professors alike until spring arrives. The content that Netflix continues to release, considering their older series just being released. It is not hard to find something that fits an individual’s interests. Whether they like comedy, drama or political intrigue, Netflix has something for them. As classes continue to hibernate, Netflix will stay on laptop screens.
