The Oxford Dictionaries defines 'binge-watch' as to "watch multiple episodes of a television program in rapid succession, typically by means of DVDs or digital streaming".It also states that the origins of this term started in the 1990s on the pattern of 'binge-drinking' and 'binge-eating'.The early term for 'binge-watch' would be 'marathon' which was popular in the 19980s, but these terms are quite different. I know for me, I never have the intention of actually binge-watching when I sit down to watch tv; it just happens. With marathons, the channel is playing a succession of movies or re-runs of an old tv series all day long and you could either tune in to watch or not. With Netflix, I say I'm going to just watch like two episodes, and I just get so hooked that I end up watching the whole season. It's so easy to binge-watch because with Netflix especially, you don't even have to push any buttons to watch the next episode, it counts down after 15 seconds and automatically starts the next episode. Did you ever think why this demand to know what happens became so popular? This phenomena is just like reading a book! If you're really into a book, you can't put it down; some people can finish a book in just days if they are really interested! I once read a 600 page book in a week, that's how good it was. Binge-watching can also be bad though, the University of Texas at Austin has done studies showing that people binge-watch to cope with depression or loneliness. Their study was done with over 300 people between the ages of 18-29. So although binge-watching can be really fun and entertaining, maybe don't make it a regular practice because you could end up having only one friend- Netflix.
Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2015.
Sharpe-Ross, Kathi. "Binge-watching: The Latest Reinvention of Entertainment Consumption." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 Dec. 2014. Web. 21 Feb. 2015.
Wallenstein, Andrew. "Binge-Watching TV Linked to Depression, Loneliness." Variety. N.p., 29 Jan. 2015. Web. 21 Feb. 2015.
Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2015.
Sharpe-Ross, Kathi. "Binge-watching: The Latest Reinvention of Entertainment Consumption." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 Dec. 2014. Web. 21 Feb. 2015.
Wallenstein, Andrew. "Binge-Watching TV Linked to Depression, Loneliness." Variety. N.p., 29 Jan. 2015. Web. 21 Feb. 2015.
--Marissa