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Over the course of this week I have been all consumed by The Humans of New York (HONY) Instagram account. On September 21st, Brandon Stanton, the creative mind behind the monumentally influential page, decided to publish (due to popular demand) a 32 part series about the life of an eccentrically dressed elderly black woman named Stephanie. Stephanie’s story was briefly introduced on the HONY account in November 2019, and once the followers of the account read about Stephanie’s struggles in 1950s New York, and about her past scandalous stripper alter ego, Tanqueray, they wanted to know more about her life.
Brandon has been publishing three Instagram posts a day which relay Stephanie’s story, told in the words of Stephanie herself. And I have personally found myself checking up on the HONY Instagram account several times a day, hoping that a new post had been published which would allow me a glimpse into the soap opera-esque life of Stephanie. And due to this, I believe that HONY’s series about Stephanie is definitely the primary source of media that I have been consuming this week.
Although I greatly enjoy diligently reading Stephanie’s story, I am also quite fond of consuming media in a more casual manner. To be specific, I enjoy watching light comedies, such as my current favorite, Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Netflix, while I do other activities such as clean the house, eat a meal, or even scroll through Instagram. I personally do not like having my house be too quiet, which is why I often have the show playing as back-ground noise for my daily life.
I think that the form of media that I consume on an almost daily basis, but yet is the least consequential in my life is music. I am subscribed to Spotify which allows me to listen to almost any type of song I could possibly imagine. I find myself utilizing this application every time I have to walk or ride my bike to a destination, or for when I am alone and without the luxury of my other more preferred forms of media.
Analysis:
After analyzing the three types of media that I am most frequently consuming, I found what they all have in common is their addictive nature. I frequently find myself wondering what will happen in the next post about Stephanie’s life. I also find myself watching several episodes in a row of Brooklyn Nine-Nine which consumes several hours of my day. And I also find myself not even being able to go on a simple walk without music constantly playing in my ears.
I do not believe that this addictive quality is coincidentally achieved by the creators of these media forms. Brandon has intentionally made his series about Stephanie last several days by only posting 3 posts a day, instead of uploading them all at once. This not only keeps readers on the edge wanting more, but also causes more readers to join in on the suspense as every day passes. In the case of shows such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine, they are intentionally kept light and humorous, making them an easy choice when a viewer cannot decide what to watch, increasing views for the show. And applications such as Spotify, rely on customers such as myself, who find it difficult to be alone with their thought, and are constantly looking for some form of distraction from reality, to keep their applications popular.
And even though I am aware of the intentionality behind the designs of the media that I am consuming, I do not believe that they are necessarily bad or evil. I think that as a consumer, we should be aware of the content we are consuming, but if something brings us joy, or makes our lives easier or more entertaining, there is nothing wrong with that.
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