When I did my first few man on the street episodes, a few people asked me if it was hard to get people to talk for the episodes. My answer was no, and honestly, I hadn’t really thought about that being an issue at all going into it. Man on the street episodes are done for various networks so I figured there wouldn’t be an issue with approaching people to be on camera. Then, in June, I did an episode on dating a robot where I wanted to interview both millennials and non-millennials to see whether there was a difference in response based on generation. For this episode, I was surprised when I couldn’t get anyone above (my guesstimate) the age of 45 to participate in the episode. I had to change the episode to just be about dating a robot versus how various ages responded. This week, I interviewed folks about their ‘Secret Single Behavior’ – otherwise known as the things you do when no one else is around. After my experience filming the robot episode, I wondered if this topic was going to be too personal to get folks to participate. But, even this very intimate topic was no issue. People shared not only what they do on their own, but one person shared a never been told secret! As much as I would like to say its because of my oh-so-welcoming host demeanor, I know that I can’t claim total responsibility for getting folks to open up. So the question is, why then are millennials so willing to share all for the camera? Here’s my theory.
We feel special.
In grade school, our gym teacher sometimes allowed us to pick teams for sports. Everyone in the class would line up and then two captains would choose who they wanted on their team. It wasn’t always a fun activity, because of the risk of being picked last, but when you got picked within the first few students, it felt so good. When it happened to me, I felt desired and valuable. I think being asked to speak on camera is similar. You see someone walking around with a microphone, looking for who to film, and they come up to you, out of all the other people around. It makes us feel like they think we’ve got something to offer that’s of value, something special. In our 20s and 30s, we’re still very much figuring out what we bring to society, what value we have to offer. Talking on camera affirms that someone else thinks that we have it, even if we haven’t figured out what “it” is yet.
We feel connected.
Vulnerability is a funny thing. It can make us feel super uncomfortable and want to crawl into a hole, but it can also make us feel the most connected to people. I think deep down we need to feel vulnerable to create human connections so look for opportunities, consciously or subconsciously, to feel that way. Sometimes it can manifest itself in situations we aren’t expecting. I remember having a break up conversation with a guy and thinking, wow, we’ll probably get back together because I feel so close to him right now. He was telling me that he wasn’t sure how he felt about me, yet, his honesty and vulnerability made me feel closer to him than ever! Other times we seek it out. I watched a prison documentary once which said inmates in solitary confinement would rather be beaten by a guard then face days of no contact with anyone. In today’s world, because we often interact behind a screen of our phone, we have to create opportunities to connect with people in a vulnerable way. Finding these opportunities can take effort but if you get asked to share your thoughts on a show, it’s an easy way to get this connection. We may not be aware of why we have the desire to share, because it isn’t necessarily comfortable, but I think we are pulled into participating because it breeds a real, authentic connection that we all crave.
We want to be Reality TV stars.
Reality TV lowered the bar for becoming famous. While some reality TV shows are about people with talent, like Chopped or Fixer Upper, some shows are just about the drama of people who haven’t really done anything aside from open up their lives to being on TV. Reality TV is addicting because we can use that as an outlet to compare those people to our lives – either be grateful that we aren’t like that or watch enviously wishing we had the life of the Kardashians. Either way, because a lot of these stars are just average people (or were when they started), we relate to these shows and think it’s attainable to be one of them. As millennials, we grew up in this age of Reality TV so crave this ‘stardom’ more than other generations. Being in a YouTube video brings us one step closer to potentially making that desire a reality which is why I think it makes millennials in particular more willing to participate. While I know there are probably a lot of people who would say they don’t want to be famous, I think deep down there’s something in all of us that does crave the affirmation of desire that comes with being famous.
Whatever the motivation, it is evident that we as millennials are much happier to spill ourselves on screen then generations before. While I appreciate this for my show, I think it’s important to more consciously think about why we are like this. And next time you’re approached on the street, speak up! Because who knows, you may just be the next reality star.
Leslie Delery 