Traditions change and new habits and rituals emerge all the time.  I now read the news in 100 characters or less, I fill my wardrobe by purchasing online but the biggest tradition that I have changed is how I watch TV.

Maybe it’s the Gen Y in me but I love not having to wait a week for a new television episode. I have gotten into the #habit of streaming a series after it has been on for a few seasons so I can bang out 3 or 4 episodes in one session.

I was chatting with some friends about a popular television show over the weekend. There were a lot of disappointed sighs; groans and screams as previously unknown plots were revealed to the laggards in the group (To the Game of Thrones fans: Red Wedding. You get my drift…)

And with Netflix releasing all episodes of a show’s season in one go, many of us are marathon-watching out favourite programs rather than seeing them over a number of weeks or months.  Netflix’s game-changing innovation has driven its competitors into action, with Amazon’s LoveFilm currently offering up 14 new pilots and asking users to decide which shows get a full series.

This conversation got me thinking – is streaming and Netflix just a change in how we watch TV or is also changing the way we interact socially? Perhaps the days are numbered where can we sit down with friends to dissect and discuss plot lines every week.    With all of my peer group watching different shows in the series are we going to have to wait till we all ‘catch up’?

Some new habits are hard to get going and others happen really quickly.  It can take between 21 – 84 days to create a new habit depending on the ease and complexity.  My new tv ritual (or habit) has happened without much effort at all but will it be as easy to create a new way to talk about these shows with my mates?