#10- Wild Card

Imaginary Friend Society

The Imaginary Friend Society is a series of films created by the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation to help children who have been diagnosed with cancer. The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation helps to research and find cures for brain tumors in children and provide support/resources for children and their families. According to the Imaginary Friend Society website, "the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation is the world's largest nonprofit dedicated to families facing a brain cancer diagnosis." They accept donations from anyone who wants to help fund their research and support programs.

One of The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation's most popular support program is The Imaginary Friend Society. It is a series of short animated films that feature various "imaginary friends." The films are meant to educate children who have been diagnosed with cancer about the treatment they will be going through and what they can expect from being in the hospital. Each film features a new set of characters that look different from the characters in the film that was released before it. The Imaginary Friend Society currently has around 19 films that cover a variety of topics related to cancer. These topics include:

• Finding Out You Have Cancer
• Feeling Sad
• What is Cancer?
• What is an M.R.I.?
• Blood Transfusions
• Radiation
• Chemotherapy
• Losing Your Hair
• Why Am I Tired All The Time?
• Who Will Be Taking Care of Me?
• Feeling Angry
• How to Handle Shots
• Surgery
• Help for Brothers and Sisters
• Long Hospital Stays
• Being By Yourself
• Being Scared
• Returning to School
• Staying Friend with your Friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=3nvVe22hM9g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEJ6zYD01pM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZGB-EYxcK8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=82&v=4hGG0NcUUOQ

In addition to creating these films, The Imaginary Friend Society also accepts imaginary friend donations from the public. You can go to their website and donate a drawing of an imaginary friend that you created. The Imaginary Friend Society will select submissions and turn them into dolls, motivational posters, coloring books, journals, and more items for children who are fighting cancer.

I first saw an advertisement for these films when I was on Hulu and was immediately intrigued by the concept, rousing me to research more about The Imaginary Friend Society. It is a great concept and a wonderful thing for The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation to be doing for children who have cancer. In order to support children with cancer, it is important that you can find a way to explain the things they will be going through before, during, and after treatment. Young children will be able to bond with friendly characters in these short films, helping them to understand concepts they've never heard of before. These colorful, animated films are short enough that they don't drag on too long, but they will manage to catch the attention of a child. The films, paired with other Imaginary Friend items that this organization is creating, will be able to help many children have steadfast friends who will help them through their journey with cancer.

#9- Classmate Blog Critiques

Classmate Blog Critiques

For these critiques of my classmate's blogs, I will be looking at three that I have particularly enjoyed this semester. I have genuinely enjoyed seeing the topics that my all my classmates have been coming up with for their blog posts because they are always creative and true to their interests. The research and writing of these posts is very well-done, and these blogs honestly transcend beyond class assignments. I'm sure that if someone happened upon these blogs (and they were not aware that they meant for a class), they would be very impressed with the writing and analyses of the posts. I will only be looking at three blogs today because I don't want this blog post to be too long, but believe me, I am impressed by what everyone has done in this class this semester.

Jamia Evans (http://the12thcloud.blogspot.com/)

I'm going to start off with Jamia's blog because her work is exceptional. I really like the aesthetics of her blog: the coffee cup background, the sheer black background behind the text, the pink/white text, and the font style. It all ties together nicely and is fun without being too distracting. Jamia always comes up with unique topics to write about for her posts. She writes about topics that I wasn't aware of, and her writing is distinctly her's. Jamia always meets the length requirements, and sometimes goes over the requirements, which is a good thing because I can tell that the topics she writes about are interesting to her and that she wants to make her posts as interactive and thorough as possible.

Justice Seymour (http://seymourjusticeagain.blogspot.com/)

Another blog that I have enjoyed this semester is Justice's. I would like to say that I think he is exceptionally good at creating blogs. I remember enjoying his blog for Directed Study I, and I think that he is continuing to produce creative blog posts in this course. I like the rain backdrop on his blog; it's simple, yet interesting. As for Justice's writing, he always manages to weave humor into his analyses to make them fun to read. I can also tell that the topics he picks for his blog posts align with his interests, such as when writes about movies or TV shows. He is always very knowledge about the latest happenings in the entertainment industry, and it shows in his blog posts. Additionally, Justice incorporates a lot of interactivity (links, pictures, and videos) into his writing, which is helpful to the reader because it allows them to fully understand what he is writing about.

Lauren Estes (http://lsestes3603.blogspot.com/)

A blog that I also enjoyed following this semester was Lauren's. Her background is more vertical than horizontal, but I like how it takes up the whole page. She has her title in cursive font at the top of the blog with a greyish white background on top of a black divider. Her background is simple with a picture of photos, yet it adds to the aesthetic feel of the blog and doesn't take anything way. Lauren's writing is fun, interesting, and thorough. I feel like I can get a sense of her personality just by reading her posts. The interactivity of her posts is also very well done. I like that she weaves videos or pictures throughout her posts to reference things that she writes about. She doesn't just dump them in random places, but rather, places them where they will make the most sense to the readers and help them to follow her writing.

#8- Predictions

Future of TV (Streaming Services)

For the longest time, keeping up with you favorite television programs included paying monthly for television service provided by a cable or satellite network like DirectTV or Dish. In recent years, online streaming services, such as Netflix, Hulu, Sling, and Amazon, have provided people with the opportunity to cut cords with cable and satellite companies and pick and choose their favorite streaming services to subscribe to. Streaming services have allowed consumers to pay to watch TV series and movies that they actually want to watch instead of paying a monthly fee to cable and satellite companies to have an array of channels that they don't ever watch. 

With this surge in streaming service subscriptions, television networks may want to step up and create their own streaming service to keep up with the times. Network HBO has already started two streaming services, HBO NOW and HBO GO, where subscribers can HBO series, hit movies, documentaries, and more. Subscribers can use one of the services as part of their cable subscription or utilize an online only subscription for $14.99 a month. Entertainment mogul Disney has been planning to release its own exclusive streaming service in 2019 where subscribers can watch popular Disney movies and series and upcoming/original movies and series made just for the service.

Recently, a report by the The Diffusion Group, a US media research center, predicted that "the unbundling of cable TV packages will accelerate over the next five years, with all major TV networks launching standalone direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming services by 2022." Mike Berkley, a senior advisory from The Diffusion Group said that television networks are "consolidating, bulking up on originals, and marketing directly to consumers" which is, in turn, "driving their strategic direction."

Through the report, The Diffusion Group looked at the following areas in order to create "the industry’s first extensive analysis & forecast of TV Network direct-to-consumer strategies and thus a must-read for media companies, TV networks, digital video platforms, and technology vendors supporting the video streaming ecosystem." They are as follows:

• "Total TV Network DTC subscriptions
• TV Network DTC subscriptions per user household
• Annual growth rate of TV Network DTC subscriptions
• TV Network DTC subscriptions by network brand
• Average sales price of TV Network DTC subscription
• Annual TV Network DTC Revenue"

With this new a la carte approach to watch your favorite TV series and movies comes one big downside. According to a study by TiVo from June of last year, "the average price a U.S. consumer will pay for access to the top 20 channels is $28.31- a figure that's dropped by 14 percent over the past two quarters." Consumers are willing to pay what they have to for streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, but when it comes to a la carte TV packages, it can be hard to find a decent price that a consumer will be willing to pay. Of course, a consumer could compare prices from multiple services to find the best one, but they might not be able to get every since channel they want in the package (particularly the more local broadcast channels). Consumers are still going to be paying for streaming services too, and depending on the number of services they pay for, the costs could add up if they subscribe to many of them. 

Sources

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tdg-all-major-tv-networks-will-offer-a-direct-to-consumer-streaming-service-by-2022-300613930.html

http://bgr.com/2018/03/19/best-streaming-service-vs-cable-2018/

https://order.hbonow.com/nowvsgo

http://deadline.com/2018/02/disney-streaming-service-launch-slate-star-wars-marvel-1202281846/

https://www.tdgresearch.com/what-we-do/syndicated-reports/future-direct-consumer-dtc-video-services-analysis-forecasts-2018-2028/
https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/14/77-of-consumers-want-a-la-carte-tv-tivo-study-finds-but-price-theyre-willing-to-pay-drops/

#7- Binge Watching

BuzzFeed Unsolved

There's nothing I love more than a good binge watch, and it's additionally very satisfying when I can find a series on a streaming service or on YouTube that has several seasons already available. Usually, when I am looking for something to binge watch, I go for series that don't have too many seasons because I like to get caught up on them then move on to other series. Sometimes, I will start a series that has a lot of seasons, like The Office, but most times I go for the shorter ones.

My most recent binge watching obsession is BuzzFeed Unsolved. I have seen people on social media talk about this online series before, but I had never checked it out myself. I decided to start watching it the other day, and I was hooked from the first episode.

There are currently two different BuzzFeed Unsolved series- BuzzFeed Unsolved: True Crime and BuzzFeed Unsolved: Supernatural. In both of these series, hosts Ryan and Shane present an unsolved mystery during weekly episodes released on the BuzzFeedBlue YouTube Channel. The content is free for everyone to watch.

On True Crime, they discuss strange, unsolved murders and disappearances and the theories that surround them. On Supernatural, the duo investigates unsolved supernatural tales and visit supposedly haunted locations. In both of these series, Ryan typically presents the information of the cases while Shane gives some rather humorous commentary. In the early stages of BuzzFeed Unsolved, Ryan did the episodes with a guy named Brent, however, Shane began to replace him in episodes about halfway through the first seasons of True Crime and Supernatural. At first, episodes were also only around 5 to 6 minutes, but now they can range from 20 to 30 minutes.

Both BuzzFeed Unsolved series are great for those who love crime series and are interested in the many theories that people come up with for unsolved cases. Everything from the eerie music used as background music to the pictures/graphics on the screen really tell an intriguing story that captures your attention from start to end. What makes it even more interesting is when Ryan and Shane travel to the locations where these unsolved supernatural sightings/murders/other crimes have occurred because it allows you to have a perspective on the case that you wouldn't have by just reading about it. By watching from the first episodes of the series to the episodes of the current season, you can tell how much the series' set design has improved and how they have learned to create an even more compelling series through texts, pictures, and graphics on the screen that pop up while Ryan is unfolding the case for you.

BuzzFeed Unsolved: True Crime is currently on its third season (the last episode will air on March 16), and BuzzFeed Unsolved: Supernatural is also on its third. Both series can be viewed on BuzzFeedBlue on YouTube and on Hulu. Both series have good ratings on IMDB at the moment; True Crime has 9.1 stars, while Supernatural has 8.3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLVAvUrL_VQiNZYyMnmzLZs8_W9l-WBqm-&v=z0AKoCMydkc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHXLbp7x3MM

Overall, I would recommend BuzzFeed Unsolved for those who want to learn about rather dark and creepy mysteries but wouldn't mind a little comedy thrown in with it to lessen the gloom. The series is very bingeable, in my opinion, since the episodes are on the shorter side, and you don't necessarily have to watch them on Hulu because they are all available on YouTube. I am currently still working my way through both series, and I enjoy getting to watch several episodes in a row (everyday).



#6- Global Trends

Ms Yeah: the Office Chef

When you look at trends around the world, they might differ slightly from videos that you see in your home country. People are always finding new ways to create videos and new interesting/weird content to include in their videos. Often, the strange and offbeat content that some people create captures the attention of a specific audience, causing the person who originally created the videos to reach viral fame.

 One new viral sensation goes by the name of Ms Yeah. She currently lives in China and has managed to create a series of videos that are rather unique. Ms Yeah uses the office that she works in as the setting for all her videos. She currently has over 1.4 million subscribers on YouTube. In these videos, she shows herself cooking at her desk using offices supplies and creating other things using objects she finds around the office building. I first saw a video of Ms Yeah while I was scrolling through Facebook one day. In the video I saw of her, she was cooking a whole chicken at her desk. I honestly didn't know what to think of it at first. It was very weird but strangely intriguing. What's interesting about her videos is that her coworkers in the background seem rather unbothered by all the cooking and tinkering she's doing.

Ms Yeah's name in Chinese is 办公室小野 (ban gong shi xiao ye). The "yeah" in Ms Yeah comes from the "ye" in her name. She claims that she chose Ms Yeah as her English alter ego because it just sounded like a happy name to her, and she said that she wanted to come across as a happy, cheerful person in her videos. Additionally according to her, the idea for her videos came from watching others in her office building use unconventional methods to make food, which led to her trying to brainstorm a wide variety of ways people could cook in the office without traditional kitchen appliances and utensils.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYvZUDO9Ni0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSEbj8-vZsA

Even though these videos look simple, they actually take around 4 days to film. Ms Yeah has to come up with ideas, write a script, buy the food, set up the scenes, and film the clips. Rather than being quick shots than require no effort to become viral sensations, Ms Yeah's videos take a good amount of planning.

Through her unique cooking/inventing videos, Ms Yeah has created a new global trend. Perhaps now that she has become a viral sensation through these videos, other people may start attempting to follow the format of these videos and create their own to post online. Ms Yeah created content that people online really hadn't seen before. This led to the increased interest in her content, and now she's enjoying her viral fame.

#5- Surveillance or Law Enforcement

Surveillance Videos

If you stop to think about it, you are being watched pretty much everywhere you go. There are surveillance cameras in schools, hospitals, stores, gas stations, restaurants, government buildings, and neighborhoods. These cameras watch for people that might be committing any crimes, and one of the most popular crimes being stealing or shoplifting. There are people who sit down and monitor all the footage that surveillance cameras capture in order to catch someone in the acts. Overall, surveillance videos can either help identify a suspect in a major or minor crime or sometimes even can capture weird/funny happenings. 

On January 29 of this year, a surveillance camera outside a business in Las Vegas, Nevada, recorded a man named James Edgar Lewis being shot in the head by a man in an SUV. That same night, the man from the SUV had shot three other men (who were all homeless at the time) at different locations in Las Vegas. After the shootings, the surveillance video was released to the public, and the suspect, Joshua Castellon, was approached because he has been sleeping in an SUV that looked similar to the one from the crime. Castellon was arrested on February 20 because of a federal weapons charge but was later charged with several counts of murder. 

On February 18, a surveillance camera at a home in Brookfield, Wisconsin captured a rather large cat looking inside the home. The owner of the home had first noticed several large paw prints in the snow on his front lawn. The prints made the owner check the surveillance footage from his home's surveillance video, and to his surprise, he saw a cougar peeking into his house. He later called the police department who came to his home around 6 p.m. on February 18. The police were not able to capture the cougar because "of the proximity of nearby homes." The cougar had already left the man's home when the police came back to visit the next day.

On February 14, after the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the suspect Nikolas Cruz was captured on a surveillance camera outside The Chai Center Chabad, a Jewish religious center. Cruz was making his way to the McDonald's next to The Chai Center. He had just committed a mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School and killed 17 students and teachers. Cruz sat inside the restaurant then left after a while. He was arrested about 40 minutes after he left McDonald's. Police were able to find his whereabouts to The Chai Center's surveillance video. 

Recently, in Plum, Pennsylvania, a 16 year old boy named Ryan Adams had $800 worth of baseball gear stolen from him at a car wash. The baseball gear included a backpack, two bats, a glove, a helmet, and batting gloves. Adams had been vacuuming his car with his dad at Carwash Country. After they had left the carwash, Adams noticed that his backpack that contained the baseball gear was missing. He and his dad went back and got in contact with the owner of the carwash. The owner checked the surveillance cameras and found a man in an SUV stealing the backpack from the boy's car. The man still has not been identified, although he was captured on surveillance footage.  

Although it may be annoying to feel like you are being watched all the time, surveillance videos can be helpful in many circumstances, such as identifying the suspect of a crime. There are a variety of surveillance videos out there, ranging from videos about crime to humorous occurrences, like this gem about a woman "who found a bag of cocaine in her order of cheese sticks."

#4- Advertising Analysis

Tide's Super Bowl Campaign

Tide, the popular laundry detergent brand by Proctor & Gamble, has been heavy in the news lately with the drama of people "supposedly" snacking on Tide Pods for Internet views. Recently, during the Super Bowl LII, Tide rolled out a plethora of new advertisements for their detergent.

 Mostly all of the advertisements starred David Harbour, an
actor who portrays Police Chief James Hopper on the Netflix series Stranger Things. Every ad was essentially a parody of stereotypical advertisements like a car ad, Mr. Clean ad, beer ad, and an Amazon Alexa ad. At the end of every advertisement, Harbour would proclaim, "it's a Tide ad." Some ads, like one for insurance, featured him saying it was a Tide ad because of a mechanic's bright, clean shirt, despite his face being dirty.

David Harbour

These Tide advertisements were trying to be self-aware with Harbour acting as a constant narrator. They question why every ad couldn't be a Tide ad, since most people in advertisements are watching clean clothes that could've been washed with Tide detergent. Proctor & Gamble were wanting to make ads for Tide that encompassed every genre of ads that are typically shown during the Super Bowl. The ads started with a: 45 spot that introduced viewers to the feel of the ad. By splicing up the spots and spreading them out throughout the Super Bow, Proctor & Gamble made sure that viewers wouldn't miss any of the Tide ads. The ads also had a social media campaign with the #TideAd.

According to AdWeek, "the company bought an ad in every quarter- a 45-second establishing spot in the first quarter, along with 15-second ads for each of the following three quarters." The ads cost Proctor & Gamble around $15 million dollars to create. The lighting, scenery, clothes, makeup, and more aspects of the ads were designed to reflect the genre the ad was parodying, trying to trick viewers into thinking they were watching something else when it was only just a Tide ad.

In my opinion, this was a pretty clever advertising campaign. Usually when people see an ad for brand, they know what kind of product the ad is selling due to the tone (music, lighting, acting, storyline) of it. This Tide campaign threw viewers for a loop and managed to catch their attention everytime. The ads were creative and humorous, featured a familiar face that a lot of people know (David Harbour), and managed to advertise their popular laundry detergent in a new, fun way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkcZbhTAznQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doP7xKdGOKs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kulyPinO49I

Sources

http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/every-ad-is-a-tide-ad-inside-saatchi-and-pgs-clever-super-bowl-takeover-starring-david-harbour/

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/its-a-tide-ad

#3- Product Review

Fire TV Stick with Alexa

This streaming stick and remote combo by Amazon can be used with any HDTV to stream shows and movies and also access apps. The Fire TV stick is plugged into the TV, while the remote is used to navigate the system. The handiest aspect of the Fire TV Stick is that you do not have to use it with just one TV. It goes wherever you go. As long as you have a wall outlet, an HDTV, and an internet connection, you're set.

Fire TV features around 190 channels and a variety of apps. Amazon claims that Fire TV has over 500,000 shows and movies for you to watch. There are apps such as Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Sling TV, and more. Users can watch series and movies from networks like STARZ, HBO, and ShowTime. The Fire TV sticks also allows users to access websites if it is adequate Wi-Fi. An Amazon Prime membership allows full access to Amazon Prime (movies, shows, music, and more). Subscriptions to apps like DIRECTV NOW and Sling TV brings a variety of live sports and tv shows.

Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa is included within the Fire TV remote. Users can tell Alexa to play any show or movie they wish to watch, or they could ask Alexa to show a certain genre that they might be interested in. You could tell Alexa to "Launch Hulu," and she would pull up your Hulu account on the screen. Alexa can pause streaming, open apps, play music, and even order food. Music can be streamed through Spotify, Pandora, VEVO, and more. Alexa can also be used with Fire TV through the Echo Dot, one of Amazon's voice-controlled devices.

Currently on Amazon, the Fire TV stick has 4.4 out of 5 stars. In the reviews, people praise the stick for being able to have a streaming services that lets them watch the shows and movies they actually want to watch. With cable and satellite TV, people usually end up having to packages full of channels that they never even watch. It seems like a waste of money to pay more than you need it. The Fire TV lets people choose which channels they want for only $39 a stick. They can watch countless shows and movies, play music, and use apps/Alexa. It helps people save money and has all these great qualities in one, small package. Reviews also point out that there is little to no set up hassle and that it is easy to use.

Even though there are positive aspects of the reviews, some reviews do feature some of the cons of the Amazon Fire TV stick. One review said that sometimes stick can tend to overheat which slows down the usage of it. Another one points out internet connection problems and slow video playback. There are more positive reviews on the Amazon Fire TV stick (73% of reviewers on Amazon gave it 5 stars), but people should still take the negatives review into consideration when they are considering purchasing the stick. 

Overall, the Amazon Fire TV stick is great for those wanting the a la carte approach to TV. The stick places consumer favorite streaming services (like Amazon Video, Netflix, Hulu, and more) into one convenient location. People can stream music, scroll through apps, pause streaming, and use Alexa as a personal assistant. The stick is also very portable and can be plugged into any HDTV, limiting the hassle of lugging around a big electronic box. Despite some negative reviews (citing slow connections and overheating), the Amazon Fire TV stick has managed to due very well on the market, and the number of positive reviews do outweigh the negative. The $39 price tag is also a major selling point because people want to watch the shows and movies they like without having to pay a hefty price for them.

#2- Programming Trends

YouTube Red Programming Trends

So, I'm sure that everyone already knows what YouTube is and probably watches a few videos on there every day or occasionally. Over the years, YouTube has gone from a place where users posted random, entertaining content to a business where users can create careers and make money by just posting videos. YouTube is continuing to become more than a social media platform by creating their own streaming service that is similar to other video streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.

YouTube Red is YouTube's streaming service creation. For $9.99 a month, subscribers of YouTube Red have complete access to "uninterrupted music, ad-free videos, and more." YouTube subscribers have the option to try it free for a 1-month free trial. Single person subscribers pay $9.99 a month, but families that have up to 6 members have the option to purchase a $14.99 a month membership.

When it comes to the content that YouTube Red provides its subscribers, they offer services that deal with music and video. Subscribers can access the YouTube Music app, play music on all their devices and while exited out of the app, and download music for future, offline listening. As for video streaming, subscribers have access to ad-free videos and can download YouTube videos, similar to how they can download music from YouTube Music.

Alike Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime who produce original programs, YouTube Red also releases its own original movies and series. Some of these movies and series are created by and feature popular YouTube creators. These programs were first released in February 2016. Unlike Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, YouTube Red's video library is all exclusive to the streaming service; they do not feature content that is not original to them. 

YouTube Red currently has 43 original programs (both movies and series) by YouTube creators like Buzzfeed and the Fine Brothers. YouTube Red movies and series feature a variety of genres, from drama to comedy to documentaries. CollegeHumor, a popular YouTube channel with over 12 million subscribers, created a YouTube Red series about an alternate society where Buzzfeed quizzes decide the societal group you belong in. YouTube creator Joey Graceffa created "a reality murder mystery series" called "Escape the Night" which features other popular YouTube creators as contestants. In addition to series, YouTube Red creates movies like "The Thinning," which is a teen dystopian movie starring social media influencer Logan Paul. YouTube also releases its own documentaries with one of its most recent being "Demi Lovato Simply Complicated" that focused on Demi Lovato's life and career over the past few years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FbQoI8P7c4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QyzjYqkj2U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrCWXmxqIzU

YouTube Red's programming is trying to speak to YouTube's main demographics today, which are those between the ages of 18-34 and 18-49. Statistics also show that milennials, especially those between the ages of 18-24, watch YouTube approximately two times more than regular TV. Teenagers and young adults will be attracted to YouTube Red's programming because it stars popular YouTube creators and other social media influences that may know and like. Throw in a variety of series/ in addition to these starring roles by influencers, and YouTube Red has a formula for success. The streaming service is still in its early years of operation, but it has the potential to grow and produce plenty of new programming over the coming years.

Full lists of YouTube Red's movies and series and their descriptions can be found here and here.

#1- Personal Video Habits

Personal Video Habits

When it comes to my personal video habits, I would have to say that mine involve a mixture of streaming services, TV, and YouTube. I have to admit that I probably spend a bit too much time online (especially when I'm supposed to be doing an assignment- just like this one), and most of the content I consume deals with a variety of videos.

Television

Currently, in my dorm at SAU, I don't have a TV at all. I probably will not get one for my room because I choose to leave my decently sized flat-screen TV at home so I don't have to move it from here to there. I go home sometimes on the weekends and definitely during semester breaks.

When I am at home, I have no shame in saying that I leave my TV on pretty much all day (I know, I know, it's not that great for the electricity bill). I usually leave the volume on low because I'm not a big fan of a too silent room. Just having the TV softly playing in the background helps me to feel more comfortable. When it comes to the type of channels that I play on my TV,  I  have no shame in saying that I sometimes leave it on the Disney Channel. Other channels I like to leave my TV on are TLC, Food Network, FreeForm, and HGTV. I genuinely do like shows that are air on these networks (I'm a sucker for home improvement shows and all the weird ones that come on TLC). When I used to live primarily at home, I would always keep the TV on then occasionally would watch shows here and there. I also had TV shows that I would tune into every week (mostly teen shows like Pretty Little Liars and The 100). Now that I'm at college, I keep up with my shows through online streaming services.

Streaming

The three video streaming services that I use are Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. The Netflix account belongs to my parents, but I have my own profile on their Netflix where I can watch my own TV shows and movies. I only use their Netflix when I'm home though because I currently do not have their password. Same goes for Amazon Prime. My parents are the ones paying for that, and I only really get on it at home.

On the flipside, my Hulu account is my own. I currently have Spotify Premium, which I pay $5 a month for thanks to Spotify's college student discount (seriously, THANK YOU, Spotify). This year, Spotify started offering free Hulu subscriptions to college students who purchased the $5 a month Spotify subscription deal. I use Hulu on my laptop and on my phone. The deal is pretty decent if I do say so myself. You have to watch a few commercials (which aren't very long anyways) during TV shows, but movies are practically commercial free.

With streaming services comes binge-watching, which I do partake in from time to time. The last shows I binge-watched were Dark on Netflix and The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu. I highly recommended both of this shows if you're needing something to watch to pass the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy0b9e40tK8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJTonrzXTJs

I am usually always watching a new show and will watch a show from start to finish before moving on to another one, not matter how long it takes. I like to stay in one show's narrative and not switch around to other shows too much. Lately, my favorite types of shows have been sitcoms, but I do love a good drama every now and then (especially mystery/crime).

YouTube

Another avenue through which I watch videos is YouTube. Pretty much everyone already knows what YouTube is and the types of videos that it has available. The social platform has videos for all tastes- those interested in beauty or fitness or music or pranks or whatever tickles your fancy. For me, personally, I watch a lot of beauty related content, daily vloggers (and for some weird reason, family and mom vloggers), lifestyle, humor, and more. I would say that I spend about an hour or so on YouTube every day, usually in the morning when I'm relaxing and drinking my coffee or at night when I'm trying to wind down from a long day.