Three people can be sitting inches from each other, ostensibly having a shared experience of watching television, yet have next to no overlap in their attention nor impression of the program. This is the status quo of modern media consumption. When network broadcasts launched in the 1940s, watching television was a group activity. Kids would return home from playing at dusk, everyone would sit down to a home cooked supper, and then retire to the den to watch Texaco Star Theatre or other family programming. TV was where people came together when there was nothing else to do: a meditative nightcap before bed.
As television evolved with the rest of the world, more channels, programming, and alternative activities vied for attention. Upwards of 25% of the US residents who owned televisions would be watching the same program simultaneously, bridging socioeconomic, religious, and racial divides. All in the Family or I Love Lucy transmissions into households helped spread diversification and heightened awareness of how much fell under the banner of living in America. Without the internet or disposable income to travel, programs like these were some of the only ways for people living the American dream in small town America to broaden their understanding and acceptance of foreign experiences. People didn't watch solely for the laughs or the drama; they watched to educate themselves about the greater world around them and the language necessary to understand where we as a country were going.
Television lost its position as cultural ambassador as soon as its vice grip on convenience and accessibility loosened. People came to afford multiple television sets. The number of channels available expanded tremendously. Programs were created to focus on particular audiences most appealing to the advertisers, never again aiming to be an all encompassing big tent for everyone.
If someone in a group suggests we watch something on TV, it's a choice that reflects a desired pause or full-stop in the current social activity. Mental batteries need to be recharged: second screens need attention to divert us from living in the moment. For me, I look at social media scrolling while watching TV as no different than mindless channel surfing. It's the modern evolution of aimless desire and intent, fancied up with hashtags and social media hooks. TV went from helping us better acclimate to a rapidly growing world, to a required input to better align our relevance to the memes and trending topics of the day. I watch TV to fall into a universe of characters, be surprised or impressed by the story telling devices chosen or invented, and to reflect on what these characters mean to me and what that says about myself: or to laugh at fart jokes. Why do you watch TV?
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