Information Cascade in TV
In recent years, there has been a popularization of TV shows on streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ to name a few. The success of these shows can be attributed to the rise of a global pandemic creating a new market for at-home entertainment. However, that does not explain how with over 1,800 shows available on Netflix it seems that almost everyone seems to have watched the same few?
Over the past year, there have been viral shows taking not only the film industry by storm but also being plastered all over various social media platforms. Some examples of this included “Queen’s Gambit”, “Bridgton”, “WandaVision” and the most recent being the famed “Squid Game”. Yet one stands out above the rest breaking hearts and records to become the most-watched Netflix series of all time in a mere 28 days upon release. The popularity of the show doesn’t just surpass any typical show but famed existing shows as well. It has been said the show is “more than 7-times more popular than the most-watched episode of “Game of Thrones.”1 and searched up more than ten times “The Mandalorian” and four times other Netflix originals such as “Tiger King”2. The notion of viral shows more specifically the exponential popularity of them can attribute the common phrase the rich get richer. The rich get richer dynamic demonstrates power laws to show that when a tv show gains a small lead of others they will tend to increase that lead. In other words, the information cascades through word of mouth and social media. When a person hears everyone else speak about a show they are influenced to follow the crowd.
1https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/trust-games/202110/the-unpredictable-popularity-squid-game
2 https://brobible.com/culture/article/squid-game-search-volume-chart/