Having worked from home for 4 years before joining the Sundae team, I’m no stranger to conference call catch ups, seeking advice over Whatsapp and never quite finding the most comfortable spot in my apartment to set up shop. The things you miss about being in an office are the little details, the ritual of brewing up alongside someone else, chatting about what everyone else is doing for lunch, and fundamentally for us, catching up on the previous night’s TV!
Now confined to our homes for the foreseeable, television and streaming services will play an important role in offering comfort and escapism on demand for so many people. Along with at home pub quizzes, virtual dance parties, and concert live streams, we’re seeing the Netflix Party Chrome Extension bring an innate social practice into the digital space.
Netflix Party synchronises video playback and adds a group chat to your favourite shows, so that your friends can react simultaneously to the twists and turns of that new true crime documentary, (we see you fellow Tiger King bingers). Imagine watching the next BBC drama and being able to debate theories while the episode is playing out; being able to prove your detective skills in guessing the culprit of a crime at the beginning of a series and winning the coveted bragging rights as the story unfolds.
The tool could even help to end the issue we constantly find ourselves facing in the world of online streaming, in that our friends are always one step ahead of or behind us in a new series. Perhaps, finally, truces can be made within friendship groups to watch that new series at the exact same pace, so as to truly enjoy each plot development in-sync. If there’s one thing I hate more than hearing a spoiler, it’s trying to convince someone to watch a brilliant new show while desperately trying not to let something slip and ruin it in the same breath.
For many, television is a natural shared interest, a topic of conversation it’s easy to connect over and hard to run out of things to say about, hence the success of the show Gogglebox. With online watch parties you can now create your own personal version of Gogglebox at home, on your respective sofas, with the people whose opinions you’re most interested in.
The act of staying in and watching TV on a Saturday night is becoming a whole lot more social, and we’re very much here for it! We’ll be having our own Sundae watch party next Monday for the first episode of Hollywood, just one of the new series’ coming out during lockdown that we can’t wait to watch and discuss.
Stay in, put the telly on and stay safe.
Hannah
Images and video courtesy of Saeed Adyani and Netflix.
