Latest / Open Tabs / 🎧 Inside Fishtank Live, the reality show with no rules

Transcript

🎧 Inside Fishtank Live, the reality show with no rules · Open Tabs

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to OpenTabs.
• 0:02
  This is our twice weekly breakdown where we cover three stories
• 0:08
  taking up space in
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: our tabs,
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: our feeds,
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_02: and our brains.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: Quick hit, we're all busy gals.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_02: First, our artist is from Megan that we wanted to talk about.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_02: Fresh off the press from Wired.
• 0:22
  Interactive,
• 0:23
  Violent,
• 0:24
  Gross Inside Fishtank,
• 0:26
  The Unhinged Future of Reality TV.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_02: This honestly could be a full hour conversation.
• 0:33
  I highly recommend if you're interested in reality TV to read
• 0:37
  Wired's piece.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_02: But TLDR,
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: Fishtank Live is a completely unedited,
• 0:44
  24-7 live streamed reality show where six to ten contestants
• 0:49
  live in a house.
• 0:51
  And they compete in daily challenges and elimination challenges
• 0:56
  all for a $50,000
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_02: prize while viewers can send in insults.
• 1:03
  They have a live speaker system in the house where they will
• 1:07
  put awful comments
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: from live viewers.
• 1:11
  And it's streaming exclusively on their own website and kick
• 1:15
  because they have been
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: kicked off of YouTube and Twitch.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: And kick is kind of known for being like the no rules.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: Why were they kicked off?
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: Was it just they were violating terms of service with like violent.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_02: Like their challenges get really violent.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like people will say slurs.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like the whole thing is like they're zero, zero boundaries.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: How they're advertising this to viewers is you live in the walls.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: You control the action.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_02: We've been talking about reality TV for a while,
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: Megan,
• 1:56
  and you did like a whole deep dive because you're making a
• 2:00
  cultural curve of
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_02: reality TV.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_02: And you've talked about,
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_02: tell me if I'm not pronouncing this right,
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: the panopticon that reality TV has become.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Way to reference that, Emma.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_02: That was bold.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, let me do this on the fly and see how it goes.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
• 2:20
  I think that the reality TV panopticon is being discussed a lot
• 2:23
  right now because
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: it's like tied to the surveillance state and whether or not,
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 2:29
  whether or not you agree with that or whether or not you think
• 2:32
  that's terrible and
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: reality TV is normalizing it.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Again, this could be a whole like conversation.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day,
• 2:39
  the idea of like documenting the human condition and wanting to
• 2:43
  have a voyeuristic
• 2:44
  look into what other people are doing is like core to reality
• 2:49
  TV and the reality TV
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: experience.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so this concept I feel like isn't that new.
• 2:55
  It's just the extreme that they're taking it to of like the
• 2:58
  interaction and also like
• 3:01
  The Abuse,
• 3:02
  I feel like that's very distinctly today and modern and 21st
• 3:06
  century.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't necessarily endorse this show,
• 3:11
  but I think it's like the inevitable conclusion of where we're
• 3:15
  going to end up with
• 3:16
  the rise of reality TV and social media and the way that
• 3:20
  internet moderation works.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, I have so many thoughts on this.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: I think...
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: My first question for the two of you,
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: actually,
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: is,
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just curious,
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: do either of you use,
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: like,
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: a live stream social media platform regularly?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: Like, do you tune into Twitch at all?
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like, do you guys?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 3:45
  I think this is,
• 3:47
  like,
• 3:48
  I know I'm,
• 3:48
  like,
• 3:48
  a zillennial,
• 3:49
  technically Gen Z,
• 3:51
  but I'm an old Gen Z.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: I think this is like the more millennial side of me.
• 3:58
  I don't like,
• 3:59
  I'm like,
• 4:00
  okay,
• 4:00
  I have a few hours after work to like get my entertainment.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_02: I find it's like too, there's too much downtime.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'll like,
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: if anything,
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'd watch like highlights on YouTube after the live,
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: but like I don't enjoy viewing live.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: It's almost like that filler thing.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it just feels filler.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, it feels like a waste of time to me.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: Got it.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: What about you, Megan?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: I've had in the past around political things.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: So like,
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: I went through a phase where I watched Hassan Taikyar,
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: I would put it on just like,
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: because I wanted to know what was happening.
• 4:33
  And I was like,
• 4:35
  maybe not tuned in,
• 4:36
  but it was like playing in the background.
• 4:39
  But I think an interesting thing that they said in the article
• 4:41
  that kind of gets at
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: this is they had a quote from the fish tank showrunner where he said,
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: if you're an avid fish tank fan,
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: you have a lot of free time.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Probably there's something in your life which isn't optimal.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: which I thought was very interesting and like why I think this show is so
• 4:57
  interesting not as a endorsement of like this is where reality
• 5:01
  TV should be headed
• 5:02
  but that it's clearly serving a need and being an outlet for
• 5:07
  people and I think
• 5:09
  it's the same as reality TV but like I said taken to an extreme
• 5:12
  like we talk a lot
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: about snark and how snark is an important like
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Part of the internet and part of reality TV.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like this is just mashing all of it together.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know what's so funny hearing you talk about,
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: as you just sort of spoke on that,
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: it sort of reminded me of our conversation.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I just lost my train of thought.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: The other day on Tuesday, we were talking about
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, I can't believe I just lost my train of thought.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: I know it's going to come back.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: Social media bands?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: Was it about social media bands?
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: It was no, well...
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: Ugh, I lost it.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: It'll come back to me.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: You interrupt us when it does.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah,
• 5:58
  I think this is like people are just becoming more obsessive
• 6:01
  and like fandoms are
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_02: becoming more obsessive in general.
• 6:06
  Another interesting thing from the article is that they were
• 6:09
  directly inspired by
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_02: the Swifties and how obsessive they are in tracking Taylor Swift.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: There's clearly like
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: I think it is a form of escapism.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: It can feel pretty bleak sometimes,
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: like groceries,
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_02: gas,
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_02: people want to escape into something or someone.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: Now I remember it.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: It was reminding me a little bit of our conversation.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if it was Tuesday.
• 6:44
  Maybe it was last week when we were talking about the
• 6:46
  loneliness influencers.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, there was the cut piece on that.
• 6:52
  And Paulina C.
• 6:54
  was just,
• 6:55
  you know,
• 6:55
  one of them who had sort of been fed to me in my algorithm.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: Ironically, again, specifically on Facebook, not on Instagram.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I wonder...
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: Even as that reference you were saying,
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: Megan,
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: of like the showrunner saying like,
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: okay,
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: if you're a fan of Fish Tank,
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: you have a lot of time on your hands.
• 7:16
  Like I wonder,
• 7:18
  it's like that reference,
• 7:19
  but then also this like loneliness reference too.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: It just makes me wonder of like,
• 7:24
  are some of these more like passe things that people wouldn't
• 7:28
  normally like talk
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: about?
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like, oh, I have a lot of extra time or like I am feeling lonely.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like, is this sort of like,
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 7:37
  It's just interesting to see this becoming a little bit more
• 7:40
  comfortable and out there,
• 7:43
  I guess.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: I follow a loneliness influencer because I feel alignment there.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's just interesting to this idea of,
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: okay,
• 7:59
  this show that you watch is because you have time and it's not
• 8:04
  necessarily being
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: presented in a positive way.
• 8:08
  I feel like it's like I think you're totally right I think it's
• 8:10
  like a breakdown of
• 8:11
  like an Instagram perfection and people like being more openly
• 8:19
  honest about like
• 8:21
  where they're maybe not crushing it in life and finding
• 8:25
  community there because
• 8:29
  there are TikTok accounts dedicated to Fish Talk Live where
• 8:33
  like people are talking
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: to each other about it in the comments there's a Reddit page like
• 8:38
  People are finding community here and in addition to the
• 8:42
  viewers not having a lot
• 8:43
  going on in their lives the contestants don't either they very
• 8:48
  openly talk about in
• 8:48
  the piece like these are people who like don't have jobs who
• 8:52
  maybe still live with
• 8:53
  their parents as adults because who if you have something to
• 8:57
  lose you would never
• 8:58
  go on this show so they're kind of it's a whole community of
• 9:02
  people now that sounds
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: like squid game
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Also,
• 9:06
  the contestants that they put on or that get invited into Squid
• 9:11
  Game are like,
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 9:12
  they have usually some sort of addiction problem or they're
• 9:17
  suffering or they're
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: like,
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: They're not in a great place.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's so fascinating.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's really fascinating and it's very much paying off.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: Last season,
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: they had more than 500,000 people regularly watching,
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: and the producers claim that the show is worth more than $30 million.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_02: They're starting to get,
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: like,
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: corporate advertisers,
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_02: viewers can,
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_02: like,
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_02: donate to the show,
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: buy things.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_02: They'll, like, sell trash from the house.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: We know anything about who is watching.
• 9:53
  Like is it just they basically call them like Megan said
• 9:57
  they're like yeah they're
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: kind of like losers like people are they going on or are they um
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: Are they Gen Z?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: Do we know age?
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_02: They didn't really get into demographics.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_02: I would think, though, it was interesting.
• 10:12
  One of the former contestants has since created a Twitch
• 10:16
  streaming career,
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: and she said her audience,
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: which largely discovered her from her time on Fishtank,
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_02: is largely white men.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I think, like, 20s and 30s.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: So...
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_02: Young adult white men.
• 10:33
  And I would imagine it's kind of similar demographics for like
• 10:36
  the entire show.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we'll keep
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah,
• 10:41
  it's this article went out yesterday and since like a bunch of
• 10:45
  other publications
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_02: have started writing about it.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: Joe Rogan recently talked about it, I guess, on an episode, of course.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_02: And if you I highly recommend reading the article.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: And if you are very interested in like the psychology of reality TV,
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_02: I highly recommend The Compound by Aisling Rall.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_02: It's
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_02: A very good book.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like Love Island meets Lord of the Flies.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you'll link it.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, next topic from Vox.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_02: Why so many millennial brands are dying.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_02: So this was kind of spurred by Everlane's recent sale to Sheehan.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: Everlane, which was marketed as like a
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: Sustainable Clothing Company was just bought by Shein,
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_02: like the biggest fast fashion brand in the world for $100 million.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: And they talk about how like all birds, the shoot,
• 11:47
  the sustainable sneaker company is now smart bird and they are
• 11:51
  pivoting into AI
• 11:53
  infrastructure quite the pivot from shoes they talk about
• 11:57
  Glossier which like has
• 11:58
  lost a lot of cultural cachet over the past 10 years and I
• 12:04
  think it's interesting
• 12:06
  to talk about like what makes something a millennial brand in
• 12:11
  the article they say
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: it's like feel good capitalism like
• 12:16
  We're a brand,
• 12:17
  but we're doing good and we're better than these older
• 12:20
  companies.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm curious if you guys agree or as millennials yourselves,
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: like what you think of the downfall of these brands.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: Some of them are successful still.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: They do say like Warby Parker is a standout.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's still doing very well.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: But I'd love to know your guys' thoughts.
• 12:41
  I almost think there would be more to learn from the successes
• 12:45
  than from the failures.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I wish they had kind of taken that angle so that we could,
• 12:49
  what did Warby Parker do differently than Glossier that is
• 12:52
  making it so that
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: they're still around?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think that it's so clear that
• 12:58
  Like the problem with these brands is like a lot of them sold
• 13:01
  out like quite
• 13:02
  literally the people at the top sold their company to someone
• 13:06
  who maybe didn't
• 13:07
  guard the North Star quite as much my I guess I'm gonna say
• 13:11
  favorite but most
• 13:12
  heartbreaking I guess example of this is sprinkles cupcakes
• 13:15
  like I love sprinkles
• 13:16
  and like it was so good and then the quality went down and then
• 13:22
  now they're closed
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: so it's like
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: But you could see that happening over time.
• 13:27
  So I think part of it just comes down to ancientification and
• 13:31
  these brands allowing
• 13:32
  themselves to be ancientified by product equity and private
• 13:38
  equity and the kind of
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: chasing the trend cycle.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: I agree.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think I agree with you and I think having a real
• 13:54
  Vision for growth and evolution that ties back to the North
• 14:01
  Star is essential and
• 14:05
  also like solving a real like problem or challenge for people
• 14:11
  and like coming back
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: to that.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: So like if you pull apart Morby Parker,
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: I think what's fascinating with them is that like they,
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: took on Luxottica,
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: which was
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: Dramatically overpriced for glasses.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like the glasses industry was like ripe for disruption.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: And so they came in and disrupted it.
• 14:33
  They and like that was more of like they were they were
• 14:37
  providing stylish,
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: stylish glasses at an affordable price.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: And they made it really straightforward and easy.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: They leaned heavily into tech.
• 14:49
  They evolved where you could very easily get glasses shipped to
• 14:54
  your house to try them on.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think that the tech and their customer experience was really good.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: And they were manic about it.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then I think that the evolution now,
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: I actually recently,
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: I hadn't gone into Warby Parker in a couple years.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm somebody, I don't have great eyes.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I need to get my eyes checked every year.
• 15:19
  for Contact Lenses and they have now made it so easy to
• 15:26
  completely leave like you
• 15:28
  know again I still get my eyes checked at LensCrafters but like
• 15:31
  I could very easily
• 15:32
  get my eyes checked at at Warby Parker get a prescription and
• 15:36
  like just shift
• 15:37
  everything over there so I think that like and that wasn't
• 15:40
  always the case like you
• 15:42
  always had to sort of go and get your prescription from
• 15:45
  somewhere and bring it
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: there
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's clear that the company solved for that.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that they have kept it really reliable.
• 15:58
  They very easily could have partnered with Gucci to have Warby
• 16:03
  Parker Gucci sunglasses.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe they will.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's cool that they haven't, though.
• 16:08
  I think there's an entire world of collaborations that they
• 16:12
  could be doing if and
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: when they need to.
• 16:16
  If I'm like dissecting them and I like compare to Allbirds
• 16:21
  which again I would you
• 16:22
  know they all had the like buy a pair of glasses someone
• 16:26
  somewhere else gets a pair
• 16:27
  of glasses somewhere someone gets a pair of shoes whatever I
• 16:31
  think the biggest
• 16:31
  challenge with Allbirds is that I just don't know if like the
• 16:37
  technology of the
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: shoe like evolved in a way that felt like
• 16:43
  You know,
• 16:43
  there's a fashion element to sneakers,
• 16:46
  also like a functional element.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that their whole thing was that they were wool.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like it felt like they had one style and it's like whatever,
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: but then it just kind of didn't go anywhere else.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: They also did small birds, which was like for kids.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: That didn't feel like it evolved and the price point felt very high.
• 17:09
  So I don't know I think that they just to me it just felt like
• 17:12
  they really lacked
• 17:13
  in like a future vision or evolution or like kind of again if
• 17:18
  you go into something
• 17:19
  that is fashion even if it's fashion adjacent I do think you
• 17:22
  have to have some like
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: rhythm with like the style calendar and same thing like
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: I think that they could have gone along that same path.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: It just didn't feel like a must-have or solving a problem.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's really interesting.
• 17:42
  Maybe I'll like deep this for below the paywall on like a
• 17:46
  coming cultural gems
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: email because more to say.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: No,
• 17:51
  there's so much to say on this and I want to make sure we have
• 17:54
  enough time for our
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_02: final topic.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_02: So
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: Heading into that,
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: our last topic,
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_02: we're going to talk about it live here,
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_02: but if you want to listen back to it tomorrow,
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: it will be behind our paywall.