One word says it all

The way we watch television has changed. Just look up ‘binge-watch’ in the dictionary

In the binge-watch era, the internet has replaced the office as a virtual water cooler where series are discussed, live-tweeted and debated. AFP

National Editorial

Collins recently announced its words of the year, including binge-watch in a list that also featured dadbod, ghosting and shaming. The inclusion of binge-watch reflects a world where most of us indulge in the guilty pleasure of watching a slew of episodes of our favourite TV programmes in one sitting.

Thanks in part to on-demand subscription services, we can watch an entire series of a programme at the click of a button. But there is at least one problem with all this: without the time between episodes to mull over developments and plot diversions, many of us have had to redefine those office water-cooler moments we used to have in our workplace.

In the binge-watch era, the internet has replaced the office as a virtual water cooler where series are discussed, live-tweeted and debated. While that might change office dynamics, it hasn’t entirely altered our way of life: our summers have been full of binge-watching box sets for years.