You cannot scroll through an Instagram feed, without coming across one or two podcast videos. It seems to be the new media fever amongst content creators. As we are aware, podcasts have been around for a while, but the recent surge is something I cannot understand. Well maybe I can try.. you see, the Nigerian entertainment/media space is infamous for over exhausting concepts and ideas. Right now, podcasts could be the in thing.
In thing or not, however, the issue is that all these podcasts seem to be about the same thing. You're either going to listen to topics about relationships, or the never ending gender war. And to be honest, it can get really exhausting. For a few weeks, on air personality, Nedu had been in the blogs frequently due to his disclosures on a podcast. And since then, there have been one news or another centering about discussions of podcasts. And we cannot forget last week, the social media comedian/influencer, Ogechi and her baffling opinions on submission.
I mentioned something earlier about the entertainment industry over exhausting concepts, and I would like to dwell a bit about that. Recreating ideas is a form of creativity. As creatives, we may see something that we like and steal a bit from it. However, it becomes tiring seeing the same concept over and over again; especially when they aren't well thought out. On the issue of podcasts, upon careful examination of some of the podcasts online, one would discover that little or no thought were put into them. A lot of content creators, just observe the popularity, and want to ride the wave. Right now, I can bet there's a large order for microphones.
There is also the issue of over saturation. It's easy for a good idea to be lost in an over saturated media space. Because of the numerous podcasts (especially as most center on the same topics), the audience are likely to lose interest. A loss of interest in that format, could be detrimental for content creators who genuinely profit from it. Keeping the attention of people on something not different from a thousand others is not an easy feat. It seems though that this may not be the goal of some of these podcasts.
It may just be a means to gain popularity for some people. Hence the need to say something controversial, in hopes to get the clip trending. If that is the case, then all I have said is void, because it seems to be working. Maybe we have moved past the era of wholesome content completely. Trending on social media could be the main target now. We have no choice than to sit back and wait for the next trending and controversial topic which would spring from a podcast.