EOTO 1 Keypost - The Ultimate Game Changer - Netflix

A decade ago, I just like I am sure everyone else watched cable television through television providers such as DIRECTV, Spectrum, and DISH. I haven’t watched cable television since probably a decade ago as today I stream television shows and movies on a variety of video-on-demand streaming services such as YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, etc. I know I am not the only one that made the leap from cable television to video-on-demand streaming services as television providers have lost over 20 million U.S. subscribers since 2014. 

Netflix is the largest streaming service worldwide with a reported 282.7 million global paid memberships at the end of quarter three in 2024 which is a 8.3 percent increase year-over-year. The streaming service was launched in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolphand, but soon the company realized that the future of entertainment was online so the company started introducing streaming services in 2007. Netflix aimed to solve the inconvenience of traditional video rentals by offering an incredibly convenient, subscription-based DVD by-mail service before pioneering streaming, which allows people to watch movies and TV shows on-demand over the Internet. This became an instant game-changer and ultimately transformed how people consumed entertainment. Before Netflix, the main outlet for people to buy video rentals was Blockbuster Video which was a store where people could go and rent movies and video games. Netflix came in and took the majority of Blockbuster’s business because DVDs were slowly starting to fade away and streaming services became increasingly popular which started with Netflix. In 2013, a little over 34 million people worldwide had a subscription to Netflix as cable television was still the main source of watching for most people. At the end of 2024, Netflix reported that that over 300 million people worldwide are subscribed to the streaming service which is a more than 880 percent increase from those 34 million global paid Netflix subscribers back in 2013. This is because of how easy Netflix has made it for people to stream their favorite shows and movies anytime they wanted which was the goal of Netflix. The success of Netflix paved the way for other streaming services such as Hulu, Peacock, HBO Max, Disney+, Youtube TV, Paramount+, and Amazon Prime Video to be launched. It wasn’t long ago that HBO Max (2020), Disney+ (2019), Peacock (2020), Paramount+ (2021), and Youtube TV (2017) were launched after watching the increase in people subscribing to Netflix because of their easy and accessible service of streaming shows and television shows, and the decrease of people watching and more importantly paying for cable television. 

Netflix has pioneered how people watch television as users can watch content anytime, anywhere, and on any device. Whether on the go from your laptop, phone, or tablet, or your own personal home television, people can watch their favorite content at any moment of the day. Netflix and other streaming services also give consumers more choice and control over what they want to watch when they want to watch it, and how they want to watch it, as these streaming services made it their goal to cater to to different tastes and niches, which was not possible before these streaming services. While cable television provided only a select amount of shows and movies, Netflix and these streaming services allowed users to access a larger and more diverse library of content for a better deal. These streaming services figured out the issues within cable television and the previous ways to acquire and watch television shows and movies and formed solutions for all of the issues which ultimately made cable television take a big hit.

 Netflix and these other streaming services, however, have created some negative effects and habits such as binge-watching which isn’t bad unless it is excessive. Binge-watching is consistently watching a show(s) for a very long extended period. This is bad when people are binge-watching Netflix or another streaming service all day long because of health issues this can cause physical inactivity, heart disease, musculoskeletal issues from possible bad posture, blood clots due to prolonged sitting, diabetes, the risk of obesity because people may eat less nutritious foods when binge-watching which leads to weight gain. Binge-watching can also cause a deprivation of sleep and the quality of sleep, and potential mental health concerns such as social isolation as people may neglect their relationships and social activities, fatigue, anxiety, and possible depression from loneliness. 

Eight Values of Free Expression

Which ones feel most important?

1. Protect Dissent 

The most important value for me is No. 8, Protect Dissent. I believe that everyone's opinion is valuable and matters, however, with social media it feels as if my own opinion doesn't matter, and that if I do speak up and speak my mind on a particular topic, I will receive backlash and hatred for an opinion that I should feel confident sharing without anyone minimizing me. We are in a world that is so accustomed now because of social media to minimize others' opinions and make them feel as if their opinion doesn't matter. For some odd reason it seems as if people think everyone should think and believe the same as them. However, God created everyone uniquely different meaning no one person(s) acts the same or thinks the same so it confuses me as to why certain people feel the need to minimize someone else's opinion just because it doesn't align with their opinions. Whether an unpopular opinion or a popular opinion, every opinion matters and is important because the First Amendment protects our free speech.

2. Promote Tolerance

This value is equally as important as No. 8 Protect Dissent, and both are actually very similar. Promoting tolerance is when you are accepting and appreciative of backgrounds different from yours and what you are accustomed to without having any prejudices towards that person. Promoting tolerance is a tool for fostering peace within a group or community despite differences amongst people. Tolerance is the foundation for freedoms and universal human rights enjoyed by people. These freedoms include beliefs, viewpoints, and opinions as promoting tolerance's goal is to understand and encourage different freedoms such as beliefs and viewpoints in hopes of a more togetherness society. This is important to me because I want a society that is inclusive and respects' one another's differences because every belief, viewpoint and opinion is unique and important because this allows people to feel more respected, inspired, and valued.

3. Promote Innovation

I see this value incorporated in today's society a lot now especially with the rise of social media because many social media users use the platform to promote and encourage ideas, products, services, etc. This is also extremely important if we can create a society that values improvement, innovation and breakthrough methods and ideas because of the positive culture this will bring if we start inspiring others to create ideas of innovation in our society. Promoting innovation is crucial for economic growth because the economy can't grow if no one is coming up with new ideas that create concepts that improve efficiency, effectiveness or meet needs throughout society. Promoting innovation is done and accomplished through the first two values I discussed in promoting tolerance and protecting dissent. Without acceptive and being appreciative of others' backgrounds, beliefs, opinions, etc, then promoting innovation can't be done, however, if we are supportive of others' beliefs and opinions, then promoting innovation can be accomplished. 

Which one resonates and feels most personal to you?

1. Individual Self-Fulfillment

This value resonates and feels most personal to me because of my strong desire and value in individual self-fulfillment. Self-fulfillment is crucial for every individual in life because individual self-fulfillment is all about accomplishing the personal goals that you have set out to achieve and accomplish, and that is done by aligning actions with and individuals values, goals and aspirations. If individual self-fulfillment is accomplished this brings about happiness within an individual, and can also spark the previous value discussed, promoting innovation. I am very goal-oriented and driven so this value resonates a lot with me because of my spark of happiness, and deeper sense of purpose that I gain when I meet my personal goals in life. 

The Founding Era & The Idea of America

General knowledge of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the United States is the most powerful judicial branch on the entire earth. The Supreme Court interprets the U.S. Constitution, safeguarding liberty, preserving the union, and upholding the rule of law. In the entire United States history, there has been just over 100 Supreme Court justices, serving an average of 16 years. Most Supreme Court justices, however, usually serve until they die which is incredible because it shows the justices' passion and drive to serve in the judicial branch on the Supreme Court. 

What you found most interesting?

What I found extremely interesting is how many new cases the Supreme Court receives a week and it made me appreciate the Supreme Court justices even more because of how busy their days, weeks and months are because of the constant new cases filing into their offices and chambers by the day and week. The video said the Supreme Court receives more than 100 new cases every single week and about a total of 7,000 a year which is astonishing. What is even crazier to me is that the Supreme Court only accepts about 100 of those 7,000 cases to be fully considered a year. When a case is presented before the court, the court is public and lawyers on each side are only allowed 30 minutes to present their cases to the court. I didn't know that after a case opinion was made, the copies of the opinions are released to the press. Usually the opinions of the court were pages among pages long, and journalists had to go through each and every line of every single page and summarize and explain what the court decided within the case and the reasons behind those decisions.

Biggest takeaway from video and how did the video change the way of how I thought about the Supreme Court?

It is crazy how much power nine individuals have on the entire country as they decide the results to hundreds of cases across the entire country that dictate the function of our country. I gained so much respect after watching these two videos of the Supreme Court justices because of the amount of pressure and workload that each chief justice has in their hands. It's even crazier that most of the Supreme Court justices are at the age where they could retire, but are instead working tirelessly every single day to review case files. The justices are flooded with an enormous amount of crucial and important workload daily, something that I was kind of unaware of. The most important takeaway point about the Supreme Court is that they have the most important duty of giving each case that is presented to their chambers an equal and fair opportunity. It must be incredibly challenging going through 100 new cases of pages on pages long every week and over 7,000 new cases a year and figuring out which cases deserve a shot at being handled in the court. I feel like the nine Supreme Court justices do not get talked about as much as I think they should be because their job is all about not being biased in a world full of biased individuals. That is incredibly hard to do is to remain unbiased and remain fair and equal even though it sounds like something that should already be known and done. 

My Top Five Sources for News and Information

 

1. ESPN

The ESPN app is my number one source of news. I am a sports fanatic so I am constantly looking at the latest scores and news across all sports and the best app to get the latest news and scores from is the ESPN app. I get notifications all throughout the day from ESPN so I am constantly updated and informed with the latest sports’ news. I hardly watch television anymore because of how easy it is for me be able to just go on my phone and get the sports news I need for the day. ESPN has video highlights as well as live streams of games so it makes it even easier for me to stay informed me being able to stream almost every sports’ game so it makes it even easier for me to stay up to date on everything to do with sports. 

2. Bleacher Report

   

The Bleacher Report app is very similar to the ESPN app except for the fact that you are not able to stream live sporting games. Bleacher Report is another great source that I receive my sporting news from. I hardly watch the actual news so most of the news outlets I get my news from are sports news outlets. I also get hundreds of notifications a day from Bleacher Report that keeps me updated with scores, statistics, and news. Both apps, ESPN and Bleacher Report, are very similar in the content they provide with hardly any differences between the two even though I like the ESPN app better. 

3. Instagram 

   

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. Users of the app range from young teenagers to older adults and this app has become incredibly popular for all age groups to receive current news going on across the world. Instagram allows individuals to follow anyone they want to so the majority of people are following news outlets and people that they find an interest in. There is also something called a “For You” page on Instagram where the app generates content for every individual based on what you most interact with on the app. These features within the app allows every individual to get a wide variety of news, opinions and perspectives regarding different topics. This is how a lot of individual receive their news including myself because my Instagram feed is constantly filled with the latest breaking news across the country, and as someone that does not really watch the news at all, Instagram is a great way for me to easily access the news because it immediately pops up in my feed as soon as I open the app. 

4. X - Formerly known as Twitter

   

X is another incredibly popular social media platform for individuals to receive their news. I use X very regularly just to see what is happening around the world. X is the only social media platform that I have my notifications on for which makes it easy for me to stay informed on news around the world just from the notifications alone. With sporting news, sports reporters report news to X first before apps like ESPN, Bleacher Report or any other sporting news app report the news so I am always informed on sporting news across the world before ESPN and Bleacher Report report it to the world, and that is one of the major reason why I use X as often as I do. X also has a feature on the app called “Trending” where there is a list of the 30 most most trending news across the country in sports, news and entertainment so it easy to stay informed on all different news throughout the world through X’s features. Similar to Instagram, as soon as you open the app, every individuals’ feed is filled with videos, opinions and perspectives of different news, sports and entertainment topics to constantly keep people informed on what is going on across the world. 

5. WXII12

   

I have lived in Winston-Salem for the last couple of years and WXII12 is the local news affiliate in the triad area which consists of High Point, Greensboro, and Winston Salem. As a resident of Winston-Salem, and with me going to High Point University, I love to stay informed on news happening in the area I live and go to school in. Being aware of local news is extremely important so you are aware of what is happening in the area you live in. I hardly watch or keep up to date with national news because most of the time the national news does not have any direct affect on me as an individual, however, the local news has more of an affect on me because it’s the area that I live in, shop at, and travel around in so I am directly affected. Whether I watch the local news on my television or just go on WXII12’s website online, I have to stay informed on local news and sports happening in my area and WXII12 is the best outlet to receive news in the triad area.