4 ms·
"Consuming" always irritates me. We don't read written works or watch videos, we consume content.
by Veen 6y ago
"Consuming" always irritates me. We don't read written works or watch videos, we consume content.
- blfr 6y agoThe new way of interacting with videos and other media online does warrant a different term. Many people really don't watch videos, they consume content, ie. scroll or swipe through an endless stream of tweets/videos/reddit posts stopping and then moving on. It's just like watching a movie vs watching TV, reading versus paging through the newspaper, etc.
- Veen 6y agoIf people called that specific phenomenon "consumption", it wouldn't bother me. But they use it much more broadly.
- enriquto 6y ago> It's just like watching a movie vs watching TV yet here you use the same word without problem, don't you? I guess an appropriate word for "casually reading" would be "browsing" ?
- username90 6y ago> Many people really don't watch videos, they consume content, ie. scroll or swipe through an endless stream of tweets/videos/reddit posts stopping and then moving on. How is that different from plopping down the sofa, turn on the TV and watch the endless stream of content being broadcast to you? This isn't really a new thing, most people consumed TV that way before digital consumption became a thing.
- powvans 6y agoGenerally consuming something means that it no longer exists after it has been consumed. A fire consumes a home and it can no longer be lived in. I consume a hamburger and therefore you cannot eat it. Content on the internet isn't consumed in this sense. If anything it's your own time and attention that is consumed when watching videos.
- KineticLensman 6y ago> If anything it's your own time and attention that is consumed when watching videos. Yes. 'Content' certainly isn't consumed from the perspective of the content providers, who can keep streaming the same data until they choose not to. [Edit] Hmmm. Consumption, in the sense of irreversibly using a one-time resource, is sort of relevant. Once I have consumed food, I cannot re-consume it (in it's original form). Using this meaning, however, I 'use' rather than 'consume' a physical book or other format where I have a physical copy of the data (e.g. in the form of a non-rented DVD or similar).
- inglor_cz 6y agoBut consummation of a marriage does not mean a cannibal feast.
- enriquto 6y agoThis is from the verb "to consummate", not the verb "to consume".
- inglor_cz 6y agoTIL that these two words do not mean the same thing.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Bodell 6y agoThe etymology of the words “consummate” and “consume” are completely different. The former is from con (altogether) and summa (sum total; taken from summa (highest supreme)): my interpretation is “union with god”. Which fits with its adjective definition: high degree of skill; complete or perfect. The later, to consume, is from con (altogether) but added to sumere (take up). And if someone were to altogether-take-up I would assume that there would be nothing left.