By Briana Garcia | LTVN Reporter/Anchor
Podcasts are the new thing, and the popularity of this medium is just getting started. The need and want for podcasts are growing, and people are enjoying them more and more.
The world is only getting busier every day, and many Americans love to multitask, and podcasts allow them to do just that. According to a Brandastic article, 49% of podcast listening happens at home because people have the time to dive deep into topics or extended conversations between people.
Flexibility is also something that people love, and podcasts can be paused or rewinded at someone’s own pace. Listening to a podcast at any time and place allows listeners to not have to set aside time to listen; it can be whenever they want to listen.
Topics of podcasts are another reason why the particular industry is growing. Podcasts are for everyone, and the options are endless. Topics include comedy, food, crime, typology, you name it — anything and everything can be found in a podcast format. The top five categories, according to a 2021 infographic gathered from multiple studies, are society and culture, business, comedy, news and politics and health.
Podcasts allow people to educate themselves without spending a lot of money too. For example, one podcast I have listened to recently is “The Huberman Lab.” It’s all about health, and I learn something new every episode that I can tell my friends about, and it was free. People can gain a lot of information, especially within fields they work with at school or even in their career. The possibilities to learn new things are endless.
When you watch a movie and love a character and connect with them, it’s great, but you know it’s not the real person. While listening to podcasts, you can build intimacy with the host or hostess in a non-fictional space. That’s what drives listeners to want to keep coming back for more episodes. Listening to a specific podcast could be a similar experience to hanging out with friends and listening to a discussion on an interesting topic.
In 2021, people want to feel like a part of a community, and podcasts offer that instant gratification of being surrounded by people who enjoy similar things. Communities in a podcast setting will be closer than what you might experience with a film or a blog. Listeners can even interact behind the scenes and have private conversations with the host or hostess.
If you have never listened to a podcast and are interested, I recommend you head to the Top 100 US Podcasts and look through the list to see what piques your interest. You’d be surprised at what you find and what you can learn from this incredible medium, which is not only growing but also changing the world.
