Is this a language thing or a culture thing?

[yvannairie]

Is it really accurate to say most people "consume" media instead of engaging with it?

(I've been confused about it for a while b/c the people who don't use their critical thinking skills while watching/reading/playing things have always been in the minority for me, and even they have usually been uncritical of things they haven't fully engaged with -- so, the same as me, I don't do the neck deep character dives into everything either.)

(It has that same suspicious sound as someone saying "sheeple" tbh)

Comments

[cimorene]

I think that only a minority of people intend that distinction when they talk about media consumption, probably essentially only the ones talking about critical consumption.

[yvannairie]

Yeah, I touched on that in another comment on this post. "Media consumption" is a "value-neutral" word in, like, media studies, but in fannish contexts it doesn't make much sense.