Entertainment: The Rising Popularity of Consumer-Choice Entertainment

When Andy Warhol said everyone will get fifteen minutes of fame, he may have been thinking too small. Technology has boomed and allowed everyone to be a star on television, radio, or online — for fifteen minutes or fifteen years. Because there are so many channels for entertainment and communication, there just isn’t enough money to fill these outlets with programming, so entertainment moguls have looked to lighten their financial load by offering fame with little or no pay in return — and lots of entertainment value that pays off for the moguls. And it’s working.

The wild proliferation of talk shows with real people, reality television with real people, stars and has been stars, and participatory television like American Idol, You Tube and other shows where “your vote counts” have made it possible for everyone to be part of the entertainment industry in some way.

The reason why people love this outlet is more complex than the technology that allows for it. The need to be seen and to be heard is fueled by insecurity, and as our collective self esteem and insecurity plummet, our collective need to be seen and heard rises. The entertainment industry is the remedy for so many, many people — they can be seen and heard here.

In addition, the ironic isolation that technology provides by making telecommuting, teleconferencing, video-dating, cyber-sex, chat rooms and online shopping possible, have also created a loss of ability to provide social stimulation that would accompany these acts “normally” or without technology. And oddly, technology and entertainment provide the perfect outlet and solution to this problem — participatory entertainment.

The public’s appetite for this dynamic is growing, and will continue to grow, as more and more and newer and newer opportunities to “plug in” are available - from new iPods and iPhones to new participatory shows to new interactive video games, websites and camera/websites and their potential opportunities are sold to us.