Do You Prefer To Consume Media Alone, Or With Other People You Know?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Riw-1HJGloI

music: mostly alone, but i do enjoy discussing it with friends who've also heard it

tv: very much a 'significant other' one this, although i have accrued such a backlog that i am gonna have to free solo some of it

film/museums/galleries: generally require at least 1 other person but a friend is just as good as the s/o here

youtube chess videos: my secret shame

alone for everything except sports

seeing a movie with 1-2 other people and everyone keeps their mouth shut during and then you all have a conversation about it afterward is very very good imho. not better than alone though.

Depends on what it is. I don't ever play videogames with anyone else, and I don't ever watch The Chase on ABC without my partner. Going to the movies alone is sooo good/underrated.

I totally forgot about video games!

how about ILX itself, how many of you are sitting there next to someone going 'check out this idiot'

more often that I am getting a disapproving look across the dinner table tbh

I love doing all these things alone and this thread still made me slightly sad

I can't consume an entire film on my own, I split it 50% with my wife.

Movies

Oh sometimes alone but mainly not. My other half can have a very unreadable face when he’s watching stuff but I enjoy looking at him when we’re watching something and he enjoys it. Also, have had some great communal experiences watching films. Most recently was Gerwig’s Little Women with my mother, sister, aunt and a whole cinema full of mainly girls and women. Tons of tears obvs.

TV
As above. Except sometimes we will exclaim over something stupid (Bodyguard), laugh at something ridiculous (Bodyguard) or w/e

audiobooks
Not for me, Clive

records
Always solo for the most part

art in museums
In practice we usually do this together but I went around the Courthauld by myself in November and really enjoyed it.

Oh and as for games. Again both, but I love doing SharePlay with friends on PS4 especially if you want to show them a game or vice versa. I grew up playing psone with my siblings so the social element of games has always been really important to me.

Movies/tv with a significant other is great, unless you know it's not really their thing, in which case seeing it through their eyes ruins the experience. Same for music.

Obviously there can be good communal versions of everything (watching a bad movie in a group, concerts, group-friendly video games), but I mostly prefer solo.

Firmly 'Depends on the Nature of the Media' - I like doing stuff alone in general, but it varies widely based on my mood and the material.

I would never want to sit through a Marvel movie alone but they're fine with a group of friends, I'd prefer to rescreen a Bresson film alone.

TV is better with one other person (whether friend/family/roommate/girlfriend) but generally not a larger communal situation.

Going to a soccer or baseball game alone feels weird. I've done it but there's so much down time and it's an experience best shared with other people.

Live music, depends on the punctuality of the other person/people. I want to be there early and see all the openers, I'd rather go alone if I feel like I'd be cramped for time. Sort of the same with movies - I want to sit through all 20 goddamned minutes of commercials before the trailers.

alone for most of these. although it can be fun to watch sport with my mum who claims never to have liked any sport other than tennis before my childhood obsessions/enthusiasms meant she had to endure many hours of football and golf which she now watches even when I'm not there with her.

anything where i want to focus on the detail of what's happening as much as possible, there's a slight preference for alone. so that includes: music, movies, wrestling, even though all of these things are highly enjoyable with my partner and/or friends, especially movies

watching movies with my partner is soooo fun though, so it feels weird to vote for alone

through my 20s i always consumed music alone, so it's been really interesting going in the other direction as a dj. it's sort of turned my previous outlook that music was this thing special to me on its head and i've realized just how much (as in 100%) my understanding of music is socially constructed.

mr veg & i watch a lot of tv & movies together, but there are things we watch alone as well - so kinda both

but things i’m super obsessed about i prefer to watch alone bc i hate carrying that feeling of wondering if the other person likes it or not, it usually kills my enjoyment

Movies: I watch a lot of stuff alone, usually because it's too dumb/macho/violent to hold my wife's interest. She does the same thing with the coming-of-age stories about depressed French teens that she likes. Occasionally, we watch something together but it's like one movie out of ten.

TV: Every few months we pick a show and watch it together, and then we're on our own for other stuff.

Recorded music: each of us listens to our own stuff on headphones; when we're in the car, I pick the music but take requests.

Art in museums/galleries/parks: we go together.

Live music: We used to see a lot of stuff together when we were in our twenties and thirties, but back when I was still going to shows (which I haven't done since February 2020) I went alone. Before I got married I had a particular friend I went to shows with, but he's dead now.

It varies for me. A good film, though, definitely with a friend so we can have coffee afterwards and talk about it.

i can watch tv shows on my own, probably need to watch spurs on my own, have to watch movies with others, games depends on the game, music is for me usually a background thing so it doesnt matter, podcasts solo because i cant stand ppl talking during a podcast

Select tv shows with gf and laughably shit movies with brother and friend when we're all in the same place at the same time (rarely, these days). Otherwise I'm basically a fan club of one wrt everything I enjoy. Which is a non-negligible part of why I ILX, as I would never have occasion to converse about most of it otherwise (and still don't tbrr, as even ILX dgaf about most of my favored media selections).

but things i’m super obsessed about i prefer to watch alone bc i hate carrying that feeling of wondering if the other person likes it or not, it usually kills my enjoyment

This is pretty much it for me, but apply it to all films/TV. I never expected my life to come to the point where I prefer to watch movies alone, but that's the fact. Coffee klatch after a film could be good, but usually I need more time to process my thoughts.

I prefer listening to dance music and most other kinds of pop music in spacious rooms with a good sound system and other people in the room. More "heady" kinds of music like classical or jazz I would choose to listen to at home, if we're talking recordings (but then is that even a choice - where would you go to listen to classical or jazz recordings in public?).

Museums: alone way better

Live music: alone can be great or terrible, depending on the environment and whether the terrible "alone in a crowd" feeling creeps in

Sports is another complicated one. Last weekend I was wondering how best to watch the Super Bowl, in a bar or at home. Ended up watching at home with a few neighbors which really seemed like the perfect choice in the end. In a bar I would've experienced more emotion, but would've missed a lot more from the actual telecast.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Kind of a perfect result.