New research released earlier this month by BT has found that there are six big types of television watcher, with leading body language expert Judi James delving deeper into their actions and exactly why they are the way they are.
Slogger? Or perhaps a Couch Coach?
( All words from Judi James)
The Sofa Butterfly
These viewers are watching in a traditional, group-share way, allowing their thoughts and emotions to synchronise with family and strangers in the wider viewing public to mimic the style of social bonding that creates secure packs in animals. The Social Butterfly's style has been re-booted via the popularity of the show Gogglebox where family groups are shown bonding via their sofa TV behaviours. When we share our enjoyment like this we can not only get feelings of security but can also create mild euphoria, especially when the programmes being watched are dramatic or exciting enough to create adrenalin. This means watching something like the finale of Great British Bake Off or Strictly in a huge nation-wide 'group' can create as big a hit as standing in a crowd at a football match or rock concert.
These viewers gain prolonged pleasure too. It's not just watching the show live that makes them happy. It's the 'water-cooler' moments over the following few days when they can discuss what they have seen with friends and colleagues at work.
The Slogger
The Sofa Blogger is the social media version of the Sofa Butterfly although instead of immersing themselves in the viewing experience, before sharing their thoughts to the wider world the following day, they are creating an overlap, suggesting an instant gratification personality where the urgency to be the first to critique and comment on a show can be more important that the actual pleasure of watching it.
There's a dodgy balance between quietly enjoying a show by immersing yourself in it and editing your thoughts to share via the Internet. Although the Slogger's behaviour might feel as though it's enhancing the pleasure it will also dilute it by preventing the kind of undivided attention that some shows need. Which is probably why the Slogger will be happiest combining social media with shows like reality TV that provide shocks and highs but without making too many demands on the intellect.
The Sofa Showman
This form of active rather than passive viewing probably evolves from behaviours we use as children where we mimic our heroes like TV characters. It's called changing your state of mind and in adults like The Sofa Showman it's a form of escapism via sharing the emotions and actions on screen. It's a quirk of the brain where something that we know to be unreal still produces an empathetic response in us. Who hasn't cried at Bambi or been genuinely terrified by a horror movie even though we know it's not real?
The Episode Evangelist
It's always interesting how, despite our ability to 'control' our TV watching habits via iPlayer and catch-up, some people can still feel driven to watch when and how the TV demands rather than the other way round. Episode Evangelists are probably enjoying the feelings of 'security' produced when allowing the TV to take over a large part of their lives. Their behaviour could border on the obsessive, with feelings of mild panic if they are forced to miss a bit of the drama. These people are rule followers rather than rule breakers and their trait of allowing the TV to take over can mean their day is spent in chaos with family, social or workplace demands and they enjoy switching off from their lives to watch their favourite programmes.
The Screens Guard
This is passive social viewing where responses are repressed as the Screens Guard becomes what is probably felt to be a politely silent and immobile member of the TV audience. Most families have their own viewing etiquette where kids are taught to keep quiet while mum or dad watch their favourite show and we can take those behaviours through into adulthood, showing respect for the TV itself as well as for the people we are viewing with.
There can also be feelings of embarrassment about showing emotions during a TV programme. Some people hate being seen as a 'softie', especially where their normal image is a bit macho, meaning they can spend entire programmes in denial, battling tears or signs of fear. These Screen Guards are the ideal target for drama shows that like to shock the viewer. Game of Thrones was one of the best examples of a show that revelled in its ability to make the Screens Guard react uncontrollaby.
On the surface the show had plenty of 'nerd appeal' with its fantasy themes but it also excelled in creating super shock moments that tore up the plot rule book to enable them to make anyone's jaw literally drop. The popularity of the show created a trend for shock plots but these will sadly become harder and harder to achieve now the genre is known about and expected.
Couch Coach
This behaviour used to be exclusive to sports fans who would be unable to sit still while their teams were on the pitch and who would even mimic the celebratory displays of the players if and when a goal was scored, punching the air or even running around the living room with their jumped pulled up over their head. This means the anticipation and adrenalin burst has almost removed the sense of location to the point where they are on the pitch or in the stands rather than sitting on the sofa in their own home.
Modern TV shows often manage to reproduce that same reaction though, even when they aren't sport-based. Shows like The X Factor or even Jeremy Kyle specialise in getting audience participation that will spread right out into the living room so that when Simon Cowell turns to the audience behind him to help him decide which acts to keep it's likely people at home will also be up out of their seats shouting, too.
Tagged in Television