TV Voyeurism And eGroups

In Europe (Germany, Spain, England, The Netherlands) and the US total strangers, deprived of television, radio, telephone, and contact with the outside world, compete for money to survive in three-month isolation. Ensconced in pleasant living quarters (food and occasional recreational challenges provided), the participants stay under the ever-present watchful eye of live feed cameras to the Internet. Television audiences view micro-drama highlights in 30 minute segments several times per week in prime time. Every other week, members of the group nominate two housemates for banishment. Both the Internet and TV audiences can call a 900 phone number (cost $.99) to vote to remove a nominated candidate. Every other Wednesday evening, audiences watch the live, tension filled expulsion of a group member. When only three house guests remain, the viewing audience chooses a winner. Prize: $500,000. Welcome to the popular CBS show Big Brother, entertainment voyeurism 2000.

After being swept up in the pre-show hype, I watched early episodes with mild interest. With few external activities to fill many idle hours, most of the interaction among house members was reduced to self-analysis and petty discussion of individual residents. For me, this held little entertainment value. However, many people in the Internet community found the Big Brother show of immense interest. Immediately, e-list discussion forums sprang to life on egroups (www.egroups.com). As a participant (active in many cases) in over 25 such groups, I was keenly aware of the volume of e-mail generated when subscribing to them. A sampling of Big Brother-focused eGroups populations by group name and membership:

CBS_Big_Brother, 193

Big_Brother-CBS, 475

Big_Brother_2000, 29

CBS-Big-Brother, 124

BigBrother2000, 12

BigBrotherwatchers, 622

fansofBigBrother2000, 133

Big_Brother_Talk, 124

Big-Brother-Polls, 41

BigBrothershow, 10

BigBrotherlist-CBS, 6

BigBrotherUpdates, 89

BigBrotherFans, 32

BigBrotherTV, 11

(Note: subtle capitalization and separation spacings.)

In each case, the list owner provides a flavor of the fare for the list. For example, bigbrotherwatchers, with 622 members, generates over 200 e-mails daily! Yikes, this volume would swamp my JUNO mailbox. With a membership of just 32 members, I chose BigBrotherFans. Manageable, I felt. Incidentally, should you subscribe to an e-list that generates more daily e-mail that can be handled comfortably, return to eGroups, change Delivery Options from Individual Emails to Daily Digest (remember to Save Changes) or Unsubscribe from the list.

My Experience

Once subscribed, mail appeared immediately. Many people who follow the Internet closely know Net demographics have shifted. More women than men now use the Internet, a statistic reflected in the BigBrotherFans population base. Women on the list remarked how Jordan (the self-described exotic dancer) should be drummed out of the corps. It came as no surprise to anyone who participated on the list that Jordan was the second house guest voted out. Feelings against Jordan ran deep. Since her banishment, the list grew eerily quiet. Karen, the mother who badly misses her four children, appears to be the next to be axed. (She may already be among the missing when you read this.) Numerous Web sites all around cyberland give intimate details and wildly speculate on the group dynamics of Big Brother.

More Coming

Vouyerism (webcams) on the Internet, either free or subscription based, hold a long tradition on the World Wide Web. As the cost of broadband access falls and video equipment quality improves, when combined with a large television audience, one cannot help but feel the potent potential for a seemingly insatiable appetite for voyeuristic tastes. In fact, the full force of webcam access as entertainment remains in its infancy. With just a little imagination, one can envision (Internet only, perhaps) sponsored teams wearing logo emblazoned garb unabashedly singing corporate jingles. Restrictions may not apply to Internet Web sites as gambling, cigar, beer/ale, and other vendors host exotic survivor sites hawking sponsor supplied products. The permutations are endless. Add to this mix eGroup commentary on participants and speculation in a new wired economy. Scary.

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of interest:

http://www.cbs.com/network/tvshows/mini/bigbrother/

(This is the 219th of a series of elementary articles designed for surfing the Internet. Next, “Web Page Translation” is the subject on tap. Stay Tuned. Until next week, happy travels through cyberspace. Previous issues of Internet Info for Real People can be found: http://www.thebee.com. Please e-mail comments and suggestions: rbrand@JUNO.com or editor@thebee.com.)