How Netflix Affects College Students
- Nov 27, 2019
- 3 min read
Watching television used to be an event. Families would schedule their weeks around watching their favorite shows together and people would organize viewing-parties with their friends to watch season-finales. Today, this is no longer the case. The explosion of Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services has completely changed the way we understand and consume video-based media. Now, we can watch shows whenever we want, wherever we want and however we desire. In this blog post, we are going to explore how Netflix and binge-watching can affect college students socially, academically, and mentally.
Imagine you just finished your third episode in a row of Stranger Things Season 3 and somehow it’s already 2 a.m. You look at your desk and realize that you still have to study for the exam you have in the morning, but the cliffhanger forces you into watching just one more episode. Netflix is a major addiction for many college students, myself included. A survey conducted by LendEDU found that 92% of US college students have a Netflix account. This does not mean that college students actually pay for their Netflix accounts - 59% of the respondents use a friend, significant other, or family member’s account (McAlone, 2017).
According to a Netflix survey, 61% of users regularly watch between 2-6 episodes of a show in one sitting (Page, 2017). Binge-watching is often perceived as a lonely activity, done in your dorm room or apartment alone. In college, most people binge-watch on their laptops or phone with headphones, so it doesn’t seem to allow for much interaction beyond you and your screen. The convenience of streaming media has made individuals even more introverted. According to a study by Marketcast, an entertainment research firm, 56 % of bingers prefer to watch alone and 98% watch at home (Stone, n.d.).
However, just because this activity is often done in solidarity does not mean that it can’t be a social event. Dr. Lee Williams, Chairperson of Edinboro University’s Sociology Department says, “I think in a way, what’s happening is really in large measure positive, opening the world up wider for more social possibilities.” She continues, “It connects people who watch and share similar things. It allows for a wider possible connection with people.”
In an interview with Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings, he says that Netflix’s biggest competition is sleep. Many college students claim that watching Netflix helps them fall asleep, but evidence actually shows that too much binge watching causes restlessness. According to psychologists nation-wide, binge-watching increases cognitive arousal - the feeling of being wired and ready to do more (Walton, 2017). Lack of sleep can have a significant impact on the academic performance of college students. In fact, a study conducted by The Spectator found that 44% of college students responded that they believe Netflix directly has a negative affect their GPAs.
According to a study conducted by Nielsen, 361,000 people watched all nine episodes of season 2 of "Stranger Things" on the first day it was released (Page, 2017). Although this example is extreme, binge-watching can have a variety of negative effects on a person’s mental and physical well-being. For example, Kruger’s and Karmakar’s study found that people who self-identified as binge-watchers reported higher levels of stress, anxiety and depression (Hill, 2019). If a college student spends multiple hours binge-watching a night, not only is that person sedentary, but probably also eating whatever’s in front of them and not thinking about it. Sitting for long stretches of time increases your risk of health issues like diabetes, heart disease and cancer (Page, 2017).
On the other hand, watching episode after episode of a great show feels good. Why is that? Dr. Renee Carr, Psy.D, a clinical psychologist, says that it's due to the chemicals being released in our brain (Page, 2017). When we engage in activities that are enjoyable, like binge watching, our brains produce dopamine. Dopamine gives the body a natural, internal reward of pleasure that reinforces continued engagement in that activity. She also says that the neuronal pathways that cause heroin and sex addictions are the same as an addiction to binge watching. According to Doctor John Mayer, a clinical psychologist at Doctor On Demand, Netflix and binge-watching can act as a helpful stress management tool. Binge-watching can help us shut down our minds and tune down stress and pressures.
I hope this gives you a better insight as to how Netflix and binge-watching can significantly impact the lives of college-students - for better and for worse. These statistics will not stop me from watching my favorite shows, but it is helpful to be aware of how binge-watching could impact my social and academic life. Everything in moderation!
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