For those who mourn the shared cultural experience—the night when 70% of America watched the same MASH finale—the current landscape feels lonely. For the rest of us, the age of is a golden age of selection.
Exclusivity demands volume. To justify a $15/month subscription, you need both the high art and the low art. Consequently, popular media now includes the most expensive arthouse films ever made, while prestige studios are now making reality dating shows. The distinction is dead. Why do humans value exclusive content? The psychological principle is Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) . richardmannsworld230214katrinacoltxxx108 exclusive
Twenty years ago, "popular media" meant the Super Bowl, the American Idol finale, or the Friends series finale. An estimated 52 million people watched the Friends finale live. Today, Netflix refuses to release viewership numbers unless they are record-breaking, but even its biggest hits— Squid Game or Wednesday —don't generate the same water-cooler ubiquity. For those who mourn the shared cultural experience—the