By: Shunsuke Higuchi | Staff Writer
II. “Double Speed” System of Streaming Services
In addition to massive content consumption, most video distribution websites like YouTube or Netflix usually have a speed system. This system allows users to watch something at 1.5 or 2.0 speed. For example, if you turn the double speed on, you will finish watching a 50-minute show in 25 minutes. Today, many people use this system to consume as much content as possible among an infinite amount of entertainment. It may be efficient and helpful to use the system for content that aims to convey an objective fact, like broadcast news.
Some people apply this technology to entertainment as well. For example, manga is popular in Japan and is one of the most common forms of entertainment. Some people even “double speed” reading this medium. Currently, popular manga consists of dozens of volumes. It is expensive for many people to buy comic books, so they usually go to a manga café, a facility where you pay hourly and can read any manga available while relaxing in a booth. However, some don’t even bother to go to a manga café, perhaps because they are simply lazy or don’t want to spend any money. So, instead, they search for an hour or two synopsis on YouTube and watch it at double speed. This way, they finish “reading” the series in less than an hour.
This is not limited to manga, as many people search for the plot and ratings of movies and dramas in advance and carefully select what they will try. Once they pick a “worthy” one to give a shot, they play them at 1.5 speed while using 30-second skips. Moreover, they skip “unnecessary” scenes such as the prologue or everyday-life scenes and only watch essential scenes such as the conclusion or climax. Younger generations consume massive amounts of content every day through speeding and skipping. Some people only check short clips or rating websites of popular shows to get the gist enough to catch up with the trend.
A few years ago, fast movies posed controversial topics that characterize modern society’s fast-paced, almost out-of-control consumption. Fast movies refer to shorter-length videos that sum up the story of a movie using the actual footage of the movies and have gained enormous popularity among online audiences. The abundance of these videos created a ripple regarding intellectual properties and appreciation of film as art—fast movies are the epitome of modern people’s attitudes toward art, film, entertainment, and information in general. Today’s society is less likely to appreciate a traditional 2-hour-long experience since it feels “too long” for them, and they want to consume the media quicker. It is no wonder that attention-span issues have been brought up among younger generations, who struggle with concentrating on a single activity and get distracted by other irrelevant matters, given their current styles of entertainment consumption.
