To Each Their Own Content Timeline

Lecture in Korean

Image created and provided by the speaker

Hyungseok So, TV Producer and Director, Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS)

Thursday, March 23, 2023
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

10383 Bunche Hall (10th floor)

It is symbolic that there is a TV above the fireplace. TV and wood fires both gave us the "content timeline". When humans lived in caves, in the evening after the day's work was done, everyone would sit around and watch a bonfire, much like how we would watch TV. The bonfire illuminated the faces of primitive people, similar to how TV lights illuminate our faces. TV content has always been closely tied to our patterns of life, such as how we check the weather or traffic news in the morning. Each channel only had one content timeline: a TV schedule that was strategically created by analyzing the life patterns of its specific audience.

However, in the current day, there are numerous content timelines available at any time for any audience. Screens of various sizes have completely entered into our lives, and attractive timelines with various types of content are readily viewable at any moment. Algorithms are constructing timelines akin to filter bubbles that only tailor content that survives the "attention economy". Audiences' tastes are becoming much more diverse, sophisticated, and cutting-edge. In his talk, Mr. Hyungseok So will look for the archetype of legacy media in recent popular contents and assess how contents is changing in this new media era, in which cell phone screen lights shimmer on our faces.