Before I begin, I would like preface this by acknowledging that the world does not stay still and is forever changing. Whether for the good, or bad is up to the beholder to decide, but as the saying goes “the only thing that is consistent is change”.

One big change that has taken place in the past 50 years is the loss of shared experiences. With a limited amount of media outlets, less entertainment options and fewer choices, more people tended to share in the same events.

The Jack Benny Show is just one example. The program made its network television debut back in 1950. At the time, there were only three major television networks (NBC, CBS and ABC), which of course meant there were not a lot of choices.

In the 14 years it aired, The Jack Benny Show averaged a 33 rating (the 2019 Super Bowl achieved a 41 rating). Compare that number to the 7.5 rating NCIS earned the week of April 15, 2019 and you begin to see what huge difference there is in audience share. It’s also important to note The Jack Benny Show was not always the most watched program every week.

What would happen is a very large part of America tuned in to The Jack Benny show every Sunday night and then talked with co-workers, neighbors and friends about the show. It was a shared experience.

Fast forward to today with 100’s of television/cable stations, DVR’s and streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and you can see that type of shared experience is harder to come by. There are still examples of where the nation gathers to witness something in large numbers (the Super Bowl, awards shows, etc.) but those are getting harder and harder to come by.

And it’s not just television. Radio stations and formats have multiplied over the years. Add in satellite radio, Pandora and Spotify and well, you get the picture (nod of the cap to Charles Osgood and “see you on the radio”).

Researchers at Brigham Young University carried out a series of studies that showed those who shared positive experiences with others felt happier, claiming their life was more meaningful, and reported greater life satisfaction.

In study conducted by Harvard, 68 participants were split into 17 groups of four: one participant in each group was randomly assigned to watch what they were told was an ‘interesting’ video, while the remaining three watched a ‘boring’ video.

Afterwards, those who watched the ‘boring’ video felt better than those who had seen the more entertaining offering, but watched it alone.

In his 1943 paper, A Theory of Human Motivation, humanist psychologist Abraham Maslow stated that humans share certain needs, and that these needs can be arranged in a hierarchy, from the most basic ‘deficiency’ needs (those that make us feel anxious until they’re met) to the higher level ‘growth’ needs (those that make us feel happy and fulfilled).

As our lives continue to be more invested online searching for that next offering to keep our attention, the internet that once promised an end to isolation is now forcing people to re-examine the importance of the shared experience.