After paying closer attention to my video usage this week, I find that I primarily use 3 forms of video content.

Streaming Services

Netflix and HBOMax

I mainly use 3 streaming services: Netflix, Viki, and HBOMax. I usually stream shows in the evening after work or school. Netflix and Viki are my go-to streaming services, since my sister usually recommends things for me to watch.

I only watch HBOMax every now and then. This is usually where my friend Abbie and I will watch shows together. Right now we’re watching the newest season of Euphoria. Sometimes we also watch reality tv on Hulu, but for actually good shows, we watch HBO.

Viki

My mom and I are the main ones in my family who use Viki to stream shows. We like to watch a lot of foreign television, so if there’s a show we can’t find on Netflix that we can find, then Viki normally has it. When I go home during breaks, my mom and I will binge watch a kdrama together.

I just finished watching Doom at Your Service, and it’s a new favorite of mine. The show features one of my favorite actors, Seo In-Guk who has played many melancholy characters in the past. The show is about a girl, Tak Dong-kyung, who is informed that she only has 3 months left to live. But that’s only the beginning of her problems. In a single day, she learns that her boyfriend is married and his wife is expecting, gets embarrassed by her boss at work, and gets spied on by a creep.

While drinking away her sorrows, Dong-kyung drunkenly wishes for the world to be doomed. Her wish is heard by Doom himself, who can choose a human’s wish to fulfill. Dong-kyung is forced to sign a contract with Doom, where she can wish for anything she wants as long as she wishes for the end of the world within 100 days. If she doesn’t, the person she loves most will die.

I was so caught up in the story that I finished the show in one weekend. I find that kdramas are like an escape for me. They all have similar tropes and formulas, which makes it easy to find more shows that have what I like.

Social Media and Video Games

I normally watch YouTube or Twitch while I do my homework. On YouTube, I have a few channels that I like to watch regularly and sometimes I’ll watch graphic design tutorials.

I have a few streamers I follow on Twitch. Some are study streams that have a Pomodoro timer to help you focus by working at the same time as others. These study streams also act as a nice community for people to share about their stresses and there's usually a break day once a week where people play video games online together. The rest are usually niche streamers, or gaming streamers.



A lot of my friends are a part of the esports teams at SAU. My friend Abbie is captain of the Overwatch team and plays lots of other games in her freetime. She normally watches professional teams play League of Legends on Twitch to analyze and learn better strategies. I don't really understand some of the games she plays, but she explains enough so that I can understand what's happening when she talks about tournaments and strategies.

I only play a few video games regularly. Most of them are casual games like Stardew Valley, The Sims 4, and Minecraft. I play on both PS4 and PC, but I like PS4 best. If there’s any games I play outside of that, someone recommended it to me. I recently started playing Persona 5 Royal, and I’m really enjoying it. It makes me want to branch out and play more games like it.

Final Thoughts

Although some might argue that the ease of streaming video is awful for humanity, and that it makes us lazy and uninspired. I don't think that modern luxury is inherently bad in itself. I think you just need to regulate yourself when it comes to consuming content through video, games, or social media, just like you would with anything else.

Sure, maybe if the apocalypse came one day, and shut off the grid, it would be over for all of us. I don’t know how to hunt an animal, I can barely make a fire, and being stuck with nothing to do but twiddle with sticks for 15 hours a day sounds awful.

I can confidently say that I wouldn’t make it without the internet and modern technology, and so be it.

But until that day comes, I’m just going to enjoy binge watching until the sun comes up, while staying cozy in bed with my heated blanket.