Each Wednesday, I write a post that is from my dissertation.
Housing Flipping Killed the Scrapbooking Television Show
Not surprisingly, very few scrapbookers or industry workers watched scrapbooking-related television. A few of my interviewees expressed disappointment that television channels that in the past had shown scrapbooking-related television had now moved onto the new latest trend: house flipping. For the most part, scrapbooking television is watched when a person is bored, out of curiosity, to learn new techniques, to get ideas, or because the scrapbooker is shopping for supplies (e.g., QVC). Only a couple of respondents ever watch with any regularity and they no longer did because they no longer receive the channel that carries the shows or the shows are no longer airing.
Beginning scrapbookers are more likely to watch scrapbooking shows on television than more experienced scrapbookers. Those who watch scrapbook-related television point out that they do not watch because the target audience seems to be beginners so they did not get anything out of it. Viewers are also turned off by the cost of the projects shown on television as being out of their reach economically or for being too tedious.
A couple of respondents do not watch scrapbooking-related television but they do view videos online or videos that come with their scrapbooking magazine subscription. In particular, one industry worker views videos online that manufacturers uploaded to YouTube after the Craft & Hobby Association‟s annual tradeshow. This way she is able to learn about new products without having to attend the annual tradeshow.
And Back to the Internet
Overall, television is only a source of scrapbooking norms in a limited way. In some ways, this particular question is outdated. Today, there are dozens if not hundreds or even thousands videos uploaded to sites like YouTube from regular scrapbookers, scrapbook celebrities, and even manufacturers. If I were to ask the question today, it might be that scrapbookers and industry workers are watching more scrapbooking videos than they ever watched on television. I have no idea.
What about you? Do you watch any scrapbook-related television? Do you watch videos about scrapbooking on the Internet? Feel free to comment below.
Related posts:
- I Scrap Alone
- Scrapbooking Norms: Learning the Rules of Scrapbooking
- Scrapbooking on the Web
- Scrapbookers Using Idea Books and Magazines
- Scrapbooking Celebrities
Stephanie Medley-Rath is a sociologist and scrapbooker who studies scrapbooking and memory keeping. Scrapworthy Lives is a blog focused on her sociological analysis of scrapbooking, with a sprinkling of posts about Stephanie's own scrapbooking projects.
