No, I’m not on Evan Shapiro’s payroll–though at the rate he’s going, I’d sure like to be. I do acknowledge that I tend to get inspired for musings more often from what he posts than many others in his wheelhouse–if for no other reason he tends to drop his efforts in the wee hours of the morning when the previous night’s dinner is about to evacuate my body. I’m a more captive audience then than I am at other times in the day, when multitasking and yeah, my job, can be distractions.
And lo and behold if I needed it yesterday he dropped this proverbial load into my inbox that I suppose makes me aspirationally younger than my birth certificate says I am–and any time anyone can accomplish that you bet I’ll amplify them as loudly and vigourously as possible.
To be fair, Shapiro notes he drew his inspiration from an interview he did with social media skeptic Scott Galloway. It’s a great watch regardless of where or what you may be doing. But as typically does Shapiro provided some fascinating data–not merely datecdotes–to back up his takes.
Consumers now say that the device they use most to watch video is not the TV, but rather the phone – more than 2 to 1. That’s for the whole general population. When you break it down by generation, the gap is even more dramatic. The only generation who uses the television for video more than the phone are people born before the invention of the TV. Two-thirds of Gen Z (more than 3 to 1) use their phones for video more than their TVs – and the phone wins with 63% of Millennials and 59% of Gen X.
Contrary to the conventional wisdom of the Media elite, the living room is not the only place we consume our entertainment. We asked consumers to rank their Top Three Places to watch video. The answers may surprise you.
Bed is THE #1 place that consumers say they consume video, beating the couch/living room handily. And while many people do have TVs in the bedroom, a LOT of us watch on our phones in bed. More importantly, the places we watch video is now a wide-ranging spectrum. Yes, two-thirds of us say the couch is a preferred location for video consumption. But one-third of us rank “waiting on line or in an office lobby” in the top three, more than one-quarter rank “Work” and “The Toilet” atop their lists.
So I guess the urban myth that your smartphone is capable of spying on you is a bit truer than ever when it comes to Shapiro’s newsletters. He’s clearly had his eyes on me. Or so I’d like to think. Or perhaps he’s been watching the behavior of folks who we both know matter much more to him and his many subscribers:
This picture gets even more complicated when we look at the viewing habits of our most voracious Media consumers, Gen Z. “Bed” beats “Couch” even more handily among Gen Z, with “Toilet” jumping to #3 in the rankings – 40% of A18-24 and more than one-third of A25-34 rank the WC in the top three places they watch video regularly. (So, when a Gen Z in your life sends you a video to watch, know they very well may be in the head.)
Think about yourself: Is your smartphone the first thing you touch in the morning? Is it the last thing you touch at night? (Be honest.) As depressing a thought as this may seem, it is simply the new truth – our phones are now the touchstones of our lives and remote control of our lifestyles.
Jeez, you really DO see me, Evan.
I’ve actually been a bathroom media maven long before even smartphones were around. As a kid, I found that the hard-metal cover hamper provided me a virtual desk to spread out newspapers to study box scores. And as an adult mired in what evolved into two failed marriages the bathroom provided me with a safe haven to escape with those papers to tackle crossword puzzles and jumbles that provided me even more relief than the actual intent of using the toilet was supposed to provide.
And thanks to technology, I now no longer have to actually have my device in my hands. I’ve got a neat little holder that I prop my phone up to provide me with entetainment while I brush my teeth. I use waterproof bone-conducting headphones to amplify my podcasts while I shower. And yeah, guilty as charged when it comes to having the phone in bed. I even use a ten-foot cord to keep it perpetually charged and ready to provide me my morning ritual of headlines and word games upon awakening–unless, of course, my aging prostate decides to throw my routine off.
But when there is something to actually watch and pay attention to I’m wide awake and sitting up. I’ve always considered effective TV a lean-forward experience. No one ever insisted it had to be on a couch. And as you can see, it does put me that much closer to the toilet paper. With the diet of content and questionable snack choices I make lately, I kinda need that advantage. That’s what happens when one identifies generationally in a manner akin to how some identify in gender. That approach tends to work elsewhere in my life. My bathroom knows the truth. And now, thanks to Evan’s inspiring work, so do you. Whether you desired to or not.
Until next time…