Streaming the Everyday: Netflix Originals and the Integration of Binge-Watching into Everyday Life amongst Young Adults

This essay explores how young adults integrate binge-watching into their everyday lives. It focuses on routines, emotional regulation, and social meaning. I wrote it for one of my courses focusing on audiences in my Media & Communication programme. It engages with media consumption, temporality, and digital leisure.

1. Introduction

In the last decade, Netflix has changed people’s habits with watching television, movies and shows. It has started as a rental service for DVDs and is now one of the biggest streaming services in the world, influencing how people spend their time and create media routines (Lotz, 2017). For young adults, it is not just a leisure activity but part of their everyday life, which links to comfort, social connection, or relaxation. Even though binge-watching has been normalized, there is not enough research about how young viewers experience it daily and what it means for their identity (Jenner, 2021).

This essay explores how young adults aged 20-25 integrate binge-watching of Netflix Original Shows into their everyday routines, and how their engagement and sense of identity are shaped. Netflix Originals are a good candidate because the platform promotes them the most and they are discussed widely among young audiences. Their international audience and known characters make them part of shared cultural talk and online participation (Ruckenstein, 2023).

To answer the question, this essay analyses three semi-structured interviews with young women aged 21-24. The interviews investigate how they describe Netflix in their everyday life and how it affects their emotions and viewing choices. Connecting concepts from audience research helps interpret these answers. Bird’s (2003) concept of everyday contexts shows the connection of media into everyday routines. Dahlgren and Hill’s (2023) engagement explains emotional and social involvement. Lastly, Gray’s (2021) concept on identities explains how viewing choices reflect who people are. These concepts help us explain how streaming becomes part of daily routine and self-expression.

2. Theoretical Framework

The essay applies key concepts from audience and media studies to explore young adults’ habits and with binge-watching Netflix Originals and integrating them into their everyday routines, everyday contexts, engagement, and identities. These concepts offer a framework of understating how viewing practices are shaped by the media environment but also by personal experience. Technological design, such as algorithms and features, is also considered in how it interacts with the audience processes.

2.1. Everyday Contexts

Elizabeth Bird (2003) argues that media are woven into daily life. Instead of living separately around media, people live with them. Media use blends into daily activities, such as cooking, relaxing, studying or socializing, rather than being its own task. Shaun Moores (2017) goes even further by arguing that researchers should not separate media from daily life. Instead, he says media should be seen as a part of everyday. He describes a non-media-centric approach, which focuses on how people use media alongside movement, rest and social interaction. With this approach binge-watching can be seen as a situated practice, since it can be linked to place, comfort, and emotion. Watching Netflix in bed or with friends are examples of how young adults shape their environments to create moments of relaxation or companionship.

2.2. Engagement

Dahlgren & Hill (2023) describe engagement as social and emotional involvement. Audiences do not just consume stories, they also feel with characters, share reactions, and sometimes plan their time to keep watching. This often includes staying up late, discussing shows online, or finding comfort in watching. Lotz (2017) also connects these personal routines to the structural changes of television. She explains that streaming services, which she calls “portals”, have shaped viewing by allowing viewers to choose what, when, and where they watch content. This flexibility allows freedom with fitting media around the audience’s everyday life.  It also reminds us, however, that this freedom is also partly managed by the platform itself. Different features like autoplay and recommendations encourage viewing continuously, which shapes habits and expectations. 

2.3. Identities

IIn this essay, identity refers to how viewers use Netflix to express belonging, taste, and emotion. Gray (2021) explains that whatever people like or dislike says something about their identity. Netflix Originals often offer this kind of identification, as audiences worldwide can find characters, styles, and stories that feel familiar. Hermes and Kopitz (2023) argue that audience research should include how people use media reflexively, how they reflect on themselves and connect with others. Ruckenstein (2023) similarly shows that algorithms influence how audiences feel and act, producing different emotions such as comfort, curiosity, or even guilt while watching. This means that everyday viewing routines are shaped both by personal choices and technological design. 

These concepts are the foundation for how the study explores the viewing experiences of the participants. 

3. Methodology

The goal of this study is to understand how young adults describe their viewing habits, emotional connections, and identity through their own experiences. By using qualitative audience research, the essay explores how the participants integrate binge-watching of Netflix Originals into everyday life. 

3.1. Research

The project is based on semi-structured interviews with three young women aged 20 to 25. By using this method, there is a balance between structure and flexibility, so that participants have both the freedom to describe their experiences in their own words while also ensuring the discussion provides relevant data to the goal of this essay. 

Each interview lasted between 35 and 45 minutes and was conducted in person to provide a quiet and comfortable setting chosen by the participants. By conducting the interviews face to face, a more natural and open conversation was created, which allowed for observation of tone, body language and emotion. 

A pilot interview was conducted first to test the questions and the flow of the interview. After that, minor adjustments were made, such as simplifying the wording or adding further prompts to provide more detailed responses. 

3.2. Sampling

The sampling strategy used to recruit participants was the snowball strategy. The criteria of inclusion were regular users of Netflix aged between 20 and 25 that are familiar with at least one Netflix Originals series. 

First, an Instagram post called for volunteers who met the criteria to take part in the case study. After that, a snowball approach used where close contacts were asked to share the invitation with other friends who might be interested in participating. The goal of this approach was reaching participants outside of my own immediate social circle, while still ensuring that the participants are relevant to the topic. 

Three young women agreed to participate in the study. By having a small number of participants, the project keeps its exploratory nature. Hermes and Kopitz (2023) mention that qualitative audience research focuses on depth rather than quantity, wanting to understand people’s experiences and not producing general results. By focusing on one age group, the study explores how young adults in a similar life stage include Netflix in their daily routines. 

Although gender was not one of the criteria, all participants happened to identify as women. Their experience might therefore show patterns that have not been initially considered and planned for in advance. 

3.3. Data Collection

All interviews were recorded with consent from the participants and transcribed verbatim shortly after. The transcripts were then pseudonymized, with names and details that might allow to identify the participants replaced or removed. 

The analysis followed the concept of Jensen (2012) and Hermes & Kopitz (2023). Using open, axial and selective coding allowed to identify recurring patterns and core themes within the interviews. Afterwards they were connected to broader categories to develop core themes that address the research question. 

4. Findings and Analysis

This chapter serves as a presentation of the main findings from the three interviews and how they can be interpreted through the theoretical framework which was introduced previously. The analysis focuses on how young adults integrate Netflix into their everyday routines. The five main themes that emerged through the coding are as follows: everyday life, emotional engagement, negotiated control, identity, reflexive engagement. 

Names were pseudonymized for the sake of anonymity. 

4.1. Everyday Life

Across all three participants, Netflix is a big part of everyday life. Rather than treating it as a special activity, watching is often combined with daily domestic routines such as cooking, eating, cleaning, or relaxing before sleep. Anna explains “It became like a daily routine. Whenever I eat something, I need to watch something, and it usually would be Netflix… now it just consumes basically my daily life.” She watches in specific times and places: “I only watch at home, like in my bed… or on my couch… right now it’s mostly at night, like around eight… and then it just stops while I’m sleeping because I always need some white noises in the background.” 

Bella describes a similar pattern at home, after work or university. She says, “I always watch in the evening… whenever I come home, I watch a series or something” and she connects it to relaxing while eating: “I start when I eat in the evening.” She also says where she watches: “On my couch.” She further connects watching to her mood: “It’s background noise and then I don’t feel alone… otherwise it’s so quiet.” She adds “I’m sometimes on my phone and let it run.” 

Claire also ties Netflix Originals to routine around work. She says “It helps me chill before or after work… I usually do it before work, because I start work at a later hour and it helps me relax before work”. She watches “in bed” and sometimes multitasks with it. 

With all three interviewees, Netflix fills a space in their routine, physically or emotionally. Bird (2003) explains that media becomes part of “everyday contexts”, which means that media is not something you consume, it becomes part of how the everyday is organized. Anna literally says Netflix now “consumes” her life. Bella uses it so it’s “not so quiet”. Claire says it “helps me relax before work”. Watching Netflix Originals is not something special for them. It is part of managing their time, silence, stress, and transitions. 

Moores (2017) describes this as media being woven into spatial routines. Netflix Originals are attached to a place and task. It’s not sitting down and having an event; it’s managing  how changes in the day are highlighted. This shows that binge-watching is not just watching a lot of episodes, but a tool in selfregulating. 

4.2. Emotional Engagement

All participants spoke about a personal and emotional relationship with certain Netflix Originals. Anna describes Dark by saying “It very, very caught my eye… it was like one of the best storylines I have ever seen in a series”. She explains the level of focus the show demanded: “It took all of my concentration… I feel like I wasn’t in the real world because it was so consuming”. She also explains how watching the show controlled her everyday life and routine: “I would come home from school, and the only thing was ‘oh I need to watch it, I need to know what happens’… I kind of fucked up my sleeping schedule”. She continues by saying that because she stayed up and had to wake up early, she says she was “cranky” and felt like she was “not getting anything from life unless I come back home and I finish it.” 

Engagement from Dahlgren & Hill (2023) are a good basis for this, because the participant is not only interested in the content of the show, but gets absorbed, compulsively drawn, emotionally affected and even rearranges sleep and school mood around a Netflix Original. 

Bella said Squid Game “really got into my head… it was exciting but also slightly disturbing at the same time.” The tension of the show made her “think about how far people go when they really need money”.  

Claire talks about Wednesday in the same way. She says “I watched Wednesday… I watched it very fast” and she explains the reason: “I was very interested in the plot… I was very curious about the things that were left unsaid in the last season.”  Also saying “I was thinking about it a lot. I was really in a circle of thinking about it.” Given those circumstances, she describes how the show carries over and you keep thinking about it even off-screen. She also describes this as emotional relief: “It helps me chill… it helps me relax before work… it helps me with being passionate about something. I like being passionate about things, and shows are very good for that.” 

In contrast, Bella links binge-watching with emotional coping. She says binge-watching is “like an escape portal from stressful everyday life”. She literally uses the phrase “escape portal”, because for her watching is an “escape” but also a “habit”, depending on the day. “I think escape when I really have free time… and a habit when I eat in the evening”. 

They all describe affective functions, which supports binge-watching as a tool for self-regulation. This is exactly what Dahlgren & Hill (2023) portray by engagement as emotional, embodied involvement. 

4.3. Negotiated Control

All three participants explain that Netflix seems to try to control and extend their viewing, but also that they are very aware of it. 

Anna explains autoplay as follows: “The next episode button is very, very tempting… it’s like the red button, you know you can’t press it, but you want to.” She makes a joke about responsibility: “Oh thanks. So, you chose it for me, so I don’t have to feel bad.” This is what makes her take extremely valuable. She describes how autoplay removes friction and removes guilt from watching. She can keep watching and say, “Netflix chose it.” By doing this, Netflix is doing moral outsourcing for her with their careful design. Lotz (2017) calls it the logic of the streaming platform: design choices, such as autoplay, countdown and no breaks for credits are there to keep you watching and in service. 

Bella describes the same mechanism. She says she presses “next episode” faster “because the button is there” and sometimes it’s does not press it at all: “I let it run… then those seconds run down and then it already starts anyway.” Asked if she ever watched more than intended because of this she responds “yes” and when asked if this changes her habits she answers, “Yeah, I think I push off more what I should be doing.” In other words, autoplay makes her delay tasks. Time discipline is shaped by platform design. She is aware of it and still allows it. 

Claire is almost the same: “Sometimes… I say to myself like, okay, this is the last one and I’m leaving to get to work. And then the autoplay starts and the beginning of the episode is really interesting, and I just sit and watch.” So, intention loses power with autoplay. She describes her self-control being overthrown by the structure of the next episode and how it is served to her. 

All three are critical of recommendations. Anna: “Recommendations… are mostly not necessarily something I would watch. I feel like the algorithm is so off… they just put… stuff that is popular on Netflix… which is not something I want.” Bella does not pay attention to recommendations either. Claire even says: “I usually don’t look at recommendations… they are kind of whack. I usually take them from TikTok or just Google.” 

Ruckenstein (2023) explains how audiences develop a sense, a feeling, when the algorithm is trying to push them, and they do not always accept it. Claire emphasizing that “Netflix pushes it a lot” and Bella expanding: “You couldn’t open Netflix without seeing Squid Game.” She also links that to social hype: “People talked about it.” So, Netflix also decides what people will talk about, not what people will watch. 

4.4. Identity, Taste, Social Belonging

Anna is very reflective about representation in mainstream shows. She talks about Never Have I Ever: “It’s… about a girl who goes to college and tires to find love and… tries to find connection to her culture.” She defends people calling it cringe, saying, “When you… start having a job and doing your own stuff you realize, oh I probably would have done the same thing.”  She portrays it as a realistic youth behavior, especially with navigating culture and relationships. However, she is also critical of Netflix, when asked if Netflix in general “is doing a good job at representing certain people”, she answers: “No, hell no… absolutely not… I feel like they could do so much more.” Then she says Netflix tries to be “on trend”, but they end up making a “cliché picture of specific groups”. Identity for her is a mix of recognition and critique which lines up with Gray (2021), who argues that audiences don’t just absorb representation like sponges, but they also evaluate its quality and cliché levels. 

Bella connects identity with her mood and how others see her. When asked what her Netflix library would say about her, she answers: “That I have a lot of mood swings… sad, exciting, cool… or boring.” Her watch history serves as a map of her emotional range. She calls binge-watching an “escape portal”. Netflix Originals have the purpose of self-regulation and emotional exposure for her, they help her escape, but she feels empty once they end, which plays a part in her identity. 

Claire connects identity to genres and characters. In the beginning she says: “The genre I like most are mystery, horrors, and thrillers”. Later she connects it to her identity, as she  describes seeing herself and identifying with characters on Wednesday: “I liked Enid more than anyone else actually, she’s weird but still fun, so kind of how I am.” This shows that she is actively aligning herself with a character. She also adds that she “craves more queer shows… not just ‘oh my God, I like a girl!’” She demands a version of herself that gets proper treatment and a history, instead of being tokenized. Gray’s taste and identity concept aligns again, because for him people use media to position themselves socially and/or politically. 

A big part of identity is social connection. Anna talks about shows with her dad, they “give each other options” of what to watch, but she avoids social media when she tries to escape spoilers so she can keep her “own watching experience”. Bella discusses series with friends and says watching helps her “feeling included”. Claire shares various rituals with friends and her partner. “We always buy cider… prepare food… snacks in bowls.” Anna also treats viewing as a portal to open discourses about cultures and identities. She says that when “specific cultures” are represented, it might “bring you closer to maybe a friend who’s from that culture and you understand it a little bit better and then you can ask them… ‘is this a real representation of your culture?”.  These answers show that binge-watching is not always solitary, but about community as well. It can be a bonding practice before, during and after watching a show. All this aligns with Gray’s concepts, as he says taste is not just personal preferences, but also social positioning.

4.5. Reflexive Engagement

All the participants showed reflection about Netflix’s affection of their routines, feelings, and habits. Hermes and Kopitz (2023) explain that reflexive engagement means becoming aware of your media use and noticing what it does to a person and how they feel about it. 

Anna described herself as “consuming like an addict” when she watched Dark, saying it “messed up my sleeping schedule” and that she “couldn’t stop”. She knew she was watching excessively but kept going anyway. Bella spoke about a similar feeling after finishing shows: “When it ends, I feel empty… like I don’t know what to do”. Claire also said she often feels “empty” or “deeply invested… reading about it, watching fan edits and analyses”. This shows that they are not just watching but also thinking about what their habits do to them. 

Sometimes they feel guilt or frustration, for example, when they realize that they kept watching too long. 

On the other hand, we see awareness of emotions and technology working together. Dahlgren and Hill (2023) explain that engagement is not only about the media absorbing us, but also the ability to reflect on that absorption. For the participants Netflix Originals are more than just shows, they are also a part of understanding themselves, their routines, and their emotions. 

5. Discussion and Conclusion

This case study explored how young women between 20 and 25 integrate binge-watching of Netflix Original Series into their everyday lives and how this behavior shapes their engagement and identity. Drawing on three interviews with female participants, it shows that Netflix Originals are deeply woven into everyday routines, and they serve both emotional and social purposes while also reflecting the influence of Netflix’s platform design. 

The results show that binge-watching is not an exceptional or a standalone activity, but a part of daily rhythms. Participants described watching while eating, before or after work, or to help them relax before going to sleep. In Bird’s (2003) and Moores’ (2017) concepts, Netflix becomes part of everyday contexts, which means it fits into domestic routines and emotional rhythms rather than being their own activity. Binge-watching acts as temporal organization, since it structures downtime and provides comfort and background presence. 

At the same time, the interviews demonstrate how emotional engagement shapes viewing practices. Using Dahlgreen and Hill’s (2023) concept of engagement, the participants described moments where they were deeply immersed emotionally, particularly with Netflix Originals such as Dark, Squid Game, and Wednesday. The shows created an “escape” from reality, but also tension, connection and excitement for others. This shows us that engagement is both affective and embodied, audiences use certain shows to feel, manage stress, and to find emotional balance in the everyday. 

The participants also provided a high awareness of Netflix’s influence over their viewing behavior. Autoplay and the “next episode” button were described as “tempting” and “automatic”, which shows how Netflix subtly extends viewing session. This aligns with Lotz’s (2017) concept of platform logic and Ruckenstein’s (2023) concept of the “feel of algorithms”. Still, the viewers were not passive. They criticized the platform’s poor recommendations, resisted hype cycles, and voiced criticism with policies like the new household-sharing rules. They know the system is designed to keep them watching, but they also find ways to push back and negotiate their logic. 

Netflix Originals also play a role in identity and belonging. For example, Anna recognized herself in characters struggling with culture and independence in Never Have I Ever, while Claire identified with Enid from Wednesday and is still seeking better queer representation. Bella described her Netflix choices as a reflection of her “mood swings”, which suggests how taste can mirror emotional and personal identity (Gray, 2021). Socially, shows also helped Claire connects with others. Bella admitted to watching series so she can “join” her friends, and Claire described rituals of watching with snacks and cider. Such examples correspond to Hermes & Kopitz’s (2023) view that audiences use media to connect, reflect and express who they are. 

This shows that binge-watching Netflix Originals appears as a practice that moves between routine, emotion, and platform power. It offers relaxation, belonging, delight but also guilt and awareness of manipulation. These contradictions show that young adults are not mindlessly binge-watching, but that they are reflective, emotionally intelligent viewers who try to understand how streaming fits into their everyday. 

However, this small circle of interviewees cannot represent all young adults. The participants were all women living in Europe, and their answers reflect their particular social and cultural context. Future studies could include a bigger variety of participants, compare different platforms or explore shared viewing further. Still, this study contributes to understanding binge-watching as a meaningful practice rather than a technological habit. 

In conclusion, young adults use Netflix Originals not just to pass time but to regulate emotions, shape their identity, and create everyday comfort. Binge-watching becomes a part of life’s ordinary rhythm, a space between relaxation and control, passion and routine, personal choice and platform influence.