Are you the type to follow episodes one after the other (“binge-watching“) or do you take the time to look at them at intervals (“slow-watching“)? Probably a bit of both. But what is the best way to watch your television series? Is it better to wait a week between each episode of season 2 of “House of the Dragon” which begins on June 16 (on the new video on demand service “Max“) or should we wait until they are all available for the “binge watcher“.
“Anything excessive in relation to screens is not recommended“, says Marie-Pierre Fourquet-Courbet, teacher-researcher in information and communication sciences at the University of Aix-Marseille. “You really have to try to keep control so it’s better to watch in moderationcontinues the author of the book “Connected and Happy: from digital stress to digital well-being” (2020, Dunod). Afterwards, ‘binge-watching’ is not dramatic if it is punctual“.
“In the long term, binge-watching can increase feelings of loneliness”
As a reminder, this practice has become common with the advent of streaming platforms like Netflix (“binge“means”consume excessively” And “watching“means”look“). The most famous video-on-demand service has profoundly transformed the way we consume TV series, by getting into the habit of publishing an entire season on the same day (Stranger Things, Squid Game, La casa de papel, Lupine…).
If “binge watcher” allows you to be totally immersed in your series or to have the immediate satisfaction of moving on to the next episode, this can also lead to mental fatigue, reduce thinking time and encroach on other activities (work, leisure , sleep…). “Chaining episodes of a series can be an emotional mechanism, a coping strategy to adapt to a negative environment, thus increasing hedonic well-being, based on positive emotionsadds specialist Marie-Pierre Fourquet-Courbet. In the short term, it’s beneficial for mental health to get away temporarily. However, in the long term, if it is systematic, it becomes problematic because we do not face the problems and this can increase the feeling of loneliness.“.
Hence the interest of “slow-watching“which allows you to digest one episode before the next, to take time for reflection and discussion and to have a better balance with other aspects of daily life.”Waiting for episodes promotes parasocial interactions, that is to say one-sided relationships with the characters or celebrities of the series. This can strengthen the attachment we have to them“, adds the researcher from the University of Aix-Marseille. The forgetting of certain details of the plot, the interruption over several days of the narrative thread as well as the frustration left by the cliffangers (suspended at the end of one episode, Editor’s note) constitutes the only “defaults” in taking your time.
“Both can be valid, but binge-watching must really remain punctual because it is important to maintain control over screen consumptionsummarizes Marie-Pierre Fourquet-Courbet. Watching all the episodes of a series at once can be satisfying in the short term, but it is better to keep a moderate pace to avoid negative effects on mental and physical health“.
