Benefit Of Virtual Entertainment
Online and virtual entertainment has had a boom since the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic. As we have all had to stay apart, we have craved connection with our family, friends and colleagues. Even though nothing beats in person connection, many people have found online events and meetings using tools such as Zoom a great way to interact and connect, however I feel like we have all now begun to have the same conversations, “Hey what did you do this weekend?”, “Nothing, you?”, “Nothing as well”. Without new experiences and especially shared experiences we have very little to connect over. This is where virtual entertainment comes in!
“Connecting with others is rewarding; it makes us feel like we're not alone in the world.” - Jonah Berger
Over the last 12 months many performers have made the switch to performing virtually, whether it is for family events or as I specialise in corporate events people have hired virtual entertainment. So, the question is why? This is a question I have spent a lot of time thinking about over the last few months when putting together my new show. The answer I have come up with is that people are desperate for a feeling of unity and togetherness and a shared experience does this better than anything else. This is literally why I named my show “Connect”.
After watching an interactive online piece of entertainment, people again have new experiences to discuss as well as new inside jokes and stories to tell their friends and family. We have all had the experience of the conversation I mentioned earlier, how much better would that be if it went like this: “Hey did you do anything interesting yesterday?”, “Actually, its funny you asked that as yesterday at a work event I had my mind read.” Now that is a conversation starter! Imagine at your next virtual coffee morning your team are all talking about how great the entertainment they experienced together was.
To summarise, I guess the real benefit to online entertainment is that while we all have to stay apart, shared entertainment can bring us a little bit closer together.
