Netflix and Its Impact on Teenage Society Essay Example

Netflix has become more popular over the past two years. Netflix has over two hundred million subscribers. Netflix is a streaming service where you can watch shows and movies without ads, and for how long you want. Teenagers are Netflix’s biggest supporters because they can continuously watch shows and movies throughout the day. Teenagers tend to get hooked on a movie within the first five minutes and tend to get hooked on a show after the first episode. With Netflix gaining teenagers’ attention, teenagers tend to start slacking off in general. Netflix has an effect on teenagers when it comes to binge-watching, life during quarantine, and hanging out with the opposite sex or same-sex that is not a family member. 

Netflix was created by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph on August 29, 1997, in Scotts Valley California. Once Netflix came out around 1999 Netflix started to offer online subscriptions through access to the Internet. Once 2010 rolled around Netflix branched out from just streaming in the United States to streaming in Canada, and Latin American, and the Caribbean in 2011. In 2012 Netflix had also offered a streaming-only plan in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Scandinavia. By 2016 Netflix’s streaming services were available in 190 countries. Out of all the streaming services, Netflix became the number one streaming service with 130 million subscribers by 2018. By 2021 Netflix has 209.18 million subscribers and a net worth of $300 billion. Over time Netflix started to win Academy Awards and ended up winning three awards, with one for the best foreign-language film. Teenagers have also been watching Netflix since 2010 maybe earlier and with a high number of teenagers watching Netflix, it has changed the way teenagers think and the way that they want to do things. (“Netflix | Founders, History, Programming, & Facts”)

Netflix has become so popular, it has started to affect teenage society. With teenagers spending so much time watching and using Netflix, our society has gone downhill significantly. Netflix ends the first episode on a cliffhanger, so teenagers need to know what happens next, so they start to binge-watch the whole series. During quarantine teenage mental health has decreased significantly, while their viewing of Netflix has increased.  When teenagers are hanging out with the opposite sex or same-sex, Netflix tends to become background noise for something else. 

Many teenagers like to put on a show that they like to watch to relieve stress, but then they start binge-watching and they do not realize that hours and hours have gone by. Netflix has come up with a saying called the “Netflix Effect,” where they are binge-watching all day. “People cannot just watch one episode they have to figure out what is going to happen next” (Kelson, “Netflix and Its Impact on Society - Kam Kelson”). Teenagers who spend all their time binge-watching start to become impacted by slipping grades, being late to class, not being as active, or start losing their social life. Teenagers will also find that binge-watching helps them escape from reality, but by doing that they lose track of time and what they were doing before watching Netflix. Also, when teenagers binge-watch too much it will slowly lead to short attention spans, whether they are talking to a friend or in class. When teens start spending more time binge-watching they start to find excuses to not do their work such as just one more episode. Once teens become hooked by the first episode, they end up finishing one season quickly and then they tell themselves they have to watch the next season to find out what happens next. 

Since Covid-19 started teenagers were stuck in quarantine so Netflix grew so much over the past two years. Since quarantine started Netflix had released many teenage-targeted shows. “Teenagers being stuck at home alone watching the teenage-targeted shows and movies that involve a group of teenage friends enjoying life enhances the loneliness that the teenagers already feel” (Cohen). Teenagers want to be out making memories with their friends, but being stuck at home starts to take a toll on their mental health state. There are teenagers who are very social, but it started to become suppressed since they are stuck at home all the time, which can lead to depressing thoughts. Netflix started to overflow teenagers with new content that was made just for the teenage society, and they would start to reminisce the memories of them being in school and with their friends. “Overloading this entertainment can endanger the mental state for teenagers who indulge in the lives of fictional high school characters to fill the void of missing their own adolescent experiences” (Cohen). Once teenagers get stuck in that state of mind they tend to not want to come out of it and feel like it is going to last forever. 

Many teenagers tend to invite someone of the opposite sex or same-sex to “Netflix and Chill.” Netflix and Chill as become more popular in teenage society because they just turn Netflix on as background noise, so they do other things. “In 2009, “Netflix and Chill” only meant hanging out and watching Netflix” (Rickett). Teenagers in the 21st century changed the real meaning of “Netflix and Chill” to doing sexual activities with one another. Popular celebrities that teenagers follow and watch started posting the 21st century meaning of “Netflix and Chill,” so teenagers decided to partake in the activities with someone of the opposite or same-sex. Over time “Netflix and Chill” has become more popular on just about any social media platform where teenagers will see it and start to become interested in it. Netflix has even put “Netflix and Chill” in the shows that teenagers watch. Netflix and Chill also put teenagers at a higher risk of teen pregnancy if there is no protection that is being used, but many teens who do take part in “Netflix and Chill” tend to move fast-paced, so they do not even think about using protection and they do not think about the repercussions during that moment. Teenagers also do not think about the diseases they can get from just one person when they partake in “Netflix and Chill.”

Netflix was the go-to for all teenagers who were stuck in quarantine and Netflix gained 179.33 million subscribers (Dean). Netflix was a good stress reliever for parents and teenagers during quarantine. Families would binge-watch a show together, so that way they were having family time together and they had an interesting show to watch and talk about together. Also, Netflix introduced Netflix Party that way teenagers could watch a show together with their friends or their long-distance significant other since they were stuck in quarantine. “Netflix also said the increase in subscribers and viewing hours” (Lim). All the shows that Netflix has for teenage society, can be educational on certain topics. Netflix released a show called “13 Reasons Why” and it speaks out about suicide, depression, and substance abuse. With this show being released they add a hotline for people to call if needed so that way they have someone to talk to. Netflix also released a show called “Sex Education,” teenagers can learn a lot from that show even though it is kind of crazy you still learn stuff from it, such as using protection, hotlines if you need them, clinics, etc. 

Netflix has many strengths and weaknesses when it comes to affecting teenage society. As Netflix becomes more popular in teenage society, Netflix does not realize how is shaping teenagers today. Many teenagers are in college, but still binge-watching seasons of a series daily instead of doing their school work. Teenagers watching too much Netflix during quarantine messed up their mental health and they are not struggling to get it back to where it was before Covid-19 started. When it comes to “Netflix and Chill” teenagers are not thinking about what could happen during that, since they are too in the moment to think about anything else. If you google the pros and cons of Netflix mainly you will find only the cons of what Netflix is doing to teenage society.