Our culture is a "buzz"-oriented one. We like to gossip without substance, opine without justification, and - often - get confused about what is really valuable and what is not. We like to over-celebrate the un-spectacular and ignore the spectacular. I found myself thinking about this backwards logic, and the phenomenon of hype that it inspires. Here's an interview I conducted with a number of friends on the subject:
Me: Name a time when you were disappointed by some media that you had high expectations for.
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Wil: In 2012, the new Call of Duty was coming out. This was during middle school, so it was a big social thing that was coming on. I was very excited to get my hand on a copy. So, in preparation, I read up on some of the rumors of what the plot would be like, what was new, blah blah blah. But, once the game came out, it was disappointing compared to the hype I'd given it. So it was more exciting waiting for the game than actually playing the game.
Me: You're almost making it sound like the hype, even though it ruined your enjoyment of the game, was positive. You enjoyed the hype?
Wil: I enjoyed the hype.
Me: So what's your opinion on the value of hype?
Wil: It gives you excitement. It gives you an attitude of "this is going to be fun". But the cost is you benefited before the game comes out.
Mike: I'm always disappointed by the media when after mass shootings, they always overhype the killer himself. Which, you know, the common argument of compounding the issue, you'll have a ton of copycat killers. I'm always just so disappointed that they do that. Cuz I feel like a lot of [media persons] know what they're doing from it.
Me: Do you think that the news media knowingly manufactures hype?
Mike: Oh, definitely, I'm pretty sure a lot of those journalists and reporters are educated on what the effects are.
Me: So it's purely ratings-based?
Mike: Yeah and they can report on it for weeks. And it's something they can report on steadily.
Me: So, it's ease, and it pays dividends.
Drew (about hype surrounding Donald Trump): Well I think that the hype creators knowingly add fuel to the fire. They talk about Trump's controversy and that keeps people talking about it and he's just gonna say stupid stuff even more. People are talking about it, that's why people are so popular.
Me: By reporting about Trump, by extension, they're not reporting about other news? Is that unethical?
Drew: I don't think it's unethical, but I just don't like that kind of media.
Wil: I mean there's only so much news you can actually report on. You have a lot of time to fill, and not a lot of substance you can always fill it with.
