Running out of content to watch... / How do y'all find interesting content to watch?

Basically:

Find a Youtube Channel / TV Series
Binge watch it all quickly
Bored again
Spend a lot of time looking up stuff to watch, but nothing looks interesting
Repeat

Usually stuck on Step 4 longer than actually watching something, so I just browse news/reddit/lemmy or read random wikipedia articles until I find something to watch.

How do y'all do Step 4 correctly? How do y'all find stuff that's interesting to watch?

27 comments

My strategy is different on 2nd Step
I am using method of the ancients of watching stuff weekly as they come out. Watching 1 episode a day has really elevated my enjoyment of the shows as my dopamine receptors are not oversaturated.
Books and Manga on the other hand serve a different purpose so I binge them indiscriminately.

If you keep running out, you're probably consuming too much. You need more past time where you have fun another way. Walk around town and superglue rocks to walls or whatever floats your boat. You really have to enjoy it, and not try to force yourself. Disconnect.

Switch to gaming?

All of my interests are niche, so this SHOULD happen to me all the time. The thing is, I have about 40,000,000 of them, so I usually get inspired to work on something else when I get bored

That's usually time to do something else.

!Television@lemm.ee
- What happed to movies, movies and shows, and shows…?😭
  
  We moved to simpler names
  !Television@lemm.ee
  !movies@lemm.ee

Sometimes it’s time to solve your problems. No I am kidding let’s watch another episode

I made a my own tv schedule! I watch only one episode from each show once a week on its assigned day. Not only was the process of filing it out fun but I'm constantly excited to watch things that I wouldn't have chosen before (for whatever reason).I was bored before watching the same stuff and people say after day. This has been a huge step for me in solving the problem you described
- Interesting idea! What do you do if you're busy in the evening and miss a show - save it til next week or do you catch up?
  
  The options are twofold.
  you can shift the schedule over one day so you don't miss a show
  you miss the show and just have to catch up next week (like you said)
  I only do #1 for movies (one movie a week) bc my partner and I alternate movie week, so skipping a week would be unfair. #2 for all shows

I don't really follow content creators. YouTube ads are more annoying than tv and half the content feels like an ad.
I'm more into prestige tv shows. I just look at critics top lists for different years. Whatever looks interesting goes on jellyfin. Generally HBO is good or at least was.
It means you aren't waiting for shows to get renewed or see if they iron out the kinks. I don't bother with anything that hasn't been renewed unless it's getting ratings over 7.5 or critical acclaim, preferably both.
If I run out of new content, I go to old reliable a, like the west wing or ab fab or six feet under. I'm not a big fan of reality tv but the traitors, especially the UK one without celebrities scratched an itchy and I've binged them all. I think it will drop off in quality as people learn how the game is played successfully. Too quiet or too loud and you're out.

There's just so much content available these days I don't know how you can get stuck on step four. Like people are saying, maybe you need to look at doing other things.

When if find miself in the situation when i'm out of that entertaining shit I was doing, I see it as a chance to switch my attention to work/study/something useful.
And about step 4. I usually don't stop after finding something. I continue to download diverce things until I sick of the seeking. So I always have a few games/shows waiting until I have free time and mood to get to them.

I usually rewatch old stuff, and one of the YouTube channels I follow generates so much different content that I can't keep up.
Also my schedule sadly doesn't allow for step 2 and 3.
- It’s nice to have a fallback pool of long run shows you enjoyed once. Things you can put on until something else catches your fancy. For me there’s ~90’s era Star Trek, Stargate, Parks & Rec… For someone else it might be The Office, Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park, Cheers, etc. There are plenty of 100+ episode anime out there…

Have a Kodi add-on setup integrated with trakt and custom widgets. So whenever I load up Kodi I get a feed of
New episodes for shows I already watch as soon as they air
New trending shows (in descending order of current viewers)
Newest shows on steeamers like Netflix, Amazon, Apple, BBC (which depend on the fine folk whom add them to trakt lists)
Recommended shows from trakt
And then a separate similar set of widgets for movies. I find the trakt recommendations include a lot of old movies too. So if I can't find anything I want from the feeds of new stuff, I just pull up the trailer for one of the old movies I'm recommended and take a punt on it if I'm interested.
For YouTube I just use the recommendation algorithms (delivered via SmartTube)

Well my YouTube algorithm is pretty good. I’m always saving stuff to watch later or in Hoarder. For movies and Tv I just download a lot for Jellyfin. If I truly dk what to watch I can always shuffle a good show like futurama, modern family, or mash

I don't. I don't find video media very engaging, and typically avoid it. If there's nothing interesting to watch, I do something else.

You have to be more open-minded on #4, and not be so dismissive. If a lot of people are talking about something, there's probably something to it. You're rejecting it, when the real point is that while it seems like something throwaway, there's actually something about it that contradicts that first notion, and THAT'S what makes it interesting.
Give it 3 or 4 episodes, and if it hasnt grabbed you, then move on.
Another suggestion is to switch streaming services. You havent really run out of content, you've just run out of content on those platforms. Find new platforms and destroy them, and move on. In a year or two, come back to your original streamers, and watch the latest seasons of the things you enjoyed last year.
- You have to be more open-minded on #4, and not be so dismissive. If a lot of people are talking about something, there’s probably something to it. You’re rejecting it, when the real point is that while it seems like something throwaway, there’s actually something about it that contradicts that first notion, and THAT’S what makes it interesting.
  Give it 3 or 4 episodes, and if it hasnt grabbed you, then move on.
  Hmm... I'll try...
  Another suggestion is to switch streaming services. You havent really run out of content, you’ve just run out of content on those platforms. Find new platforms and destroy them, and move on.
  So... Um... I don't really have a "streaming platform", because I pirate stuff 👀 (pls don't judge, economy is kinda shit right now)
  I just go through Reddit recommendations, find things similar to what I watched in the past, go Googling stuff.
  Is there like a website (not paywalled) that has recommendations. Like some community-run site dedicated for movies/TV recommendations?
  
  Others will have to make recommendations, but as far as judging you, have no fear matey, I'm plundering the high seas with you.

Watch Mr. Robot.
- Oh yea I tried. Its just filled with depression, capitalism, big corp, main character on drugs, I mean, that world, the atmosphere, feels so bleak, felt like I was watching a WW2 story where the nazis won (but with more "Cyberpunk"). I got like maybe 7 episodes then stopped. So confused and had no idea what was going on.
  Maybe some light spoilers to convice me to try again? (I mean, at this point I don't mind spoilers, probably not gonna watch it unless there are good plot points to look forward to)
  
  Well, the name kinda fits for its description. Hacking. Little bit of hacking, little bit of thriller, little bit of action, romance, twists etc.. Also, in my opinion, season 1 doesn't have that much character dynamics. It kinda portrays more on MC being on drugs and having some mental issues. Main enthralling events start to happen from season 2. We users get to explore the MC's real deal from there with him. The show isn't filmed in such a way to give minor spoilers. If the viewers doesn't see themselves fit into the character dynamics and storytelling, than they wouldn't enjoy it. I suggest you make past season 1. See if it sparks any of your interest. I was getting bored too on 8th episode of season 1.. But I kept watching.

I watch (and read) about a wide variety of hobbies and also throw in regular TV (usually on Pluto, Roku, or Tubi) as filler (usually while I'm doing something else too).
Also, go take breaks to do stuff in the physical world.

27 comments