Sharing Streaming Services With Non-Household Members Is Or Is Not Damaging To America’s Economy

INSTRUCTOR NOTE: None of this assignment is intended to point the finger of judgment toward any age group. Millennial statistics are singled out because, according to the author’s numbers, they are by far the largest group of streaming sharers.

It seems that, according to some, almost anything negative in the news nowadays swerve into the fault of COVID-19, the coronavirus. Reading an article recently, the headline implies that “Coronavirus” is to blame for millions of people using the streaming services of other people, yet after the headline there is nothing else in the article about coronavirus or any other disease. 

The headline (title), I believe, was purposely worded for two reasons: One, to get me to keep reading, and two, maybe even get me to notice and click the ads.

Even though I frequently read Fox Business News, the quality of journalism in that article was disappointing.

To read Cortney Moore’s article titled “Coronavirus sees over half of Americans borrow streaming logins,” click here.  Please see attachment!!!! 

Because this writing assignment presents numerous statistics, assume that Moore’s statistics in the article are reliable.

Stay with me on this. It is estimated that the population in the United States is conservatively in the neighborhood of 328 million people, and 22% percent of those are Millennials which represent 72 million folks.

Considering that number (72 million) and Moore’s statistics that 64% of Millennials “admitted that they use the account or password associated with someone they know to access subscriber-only content,” that would come out to approximately 16 million “users” streaming on someone else’s account.

Since the sharing practice of Millennials saves each one $666 annually, that is a total of over ten and a half billion dollars that do not contribute to America’s economic growth. Again, $10,000,000,500.00. That is a stack of one-dollar bills almost six-eight miles high. 

Compose a persuasive response (minimum 500 words) that specifically addresses whether the practice of “sharing” streaming services with non-household members is or is not damaging to America’s economy. 

The word economy for the purpose of this assignment, means “the organized system of human activity involved in the production, consumption, exchange, and distribution of goods and services.” 

IMPORTANT: In your essay response, assume that Joe Worker is an employee at ABC Telecommunications, a corporation that provides quality streaming services to consumers. Joe has been a highly productive employee at that company for five years but has never received a raise in pay. One of the reasons for the salary freeze is that the profit margin for ABC (and other telecommunications companies) is not sufficiently stable to raise employee salaries.

That company’s profit margin relies on the number of paying subscribers. If those Millennial streamers who “share” with other paying subscribers would actually become paying subscribers, that would have a positive effect on ABC’s profit margin.

Agree or disagree that stream sharing should stop, because consumers who “borrow” from paying subscribers cause a negative impact on the economy and especially the profit margin of businesses that provide streaming services. 

To help generate ideas for this essay and to grasp an extended meaning of the topic, watch the short (4:05) video below. Enable sound.

https://youtu.be/U2yao6WCfI8 (link to the video above)

Two sources are required, the Moore source and one additional source. The additional source must have an author (first and last name) and must be dated (dd/mm/yyyy). The additional source must comply with the requirements of Item #8 in the “Instructor Addendum to the Syllabus.”

One direct quotation is required from each source used, but the accumulative lines of direct quotations in the essay may not exceed ten. The direct quotations used must be a minimum of two complete lines of text each. REMINDER: Direct quotations are enclosed with quotation marks. The only exception is long quotations (over four lines of text) which require special formatting. View the example of quotation mark use below, which also includes the in-text citation.

EXAMPLE: “I don’t lose any sleep at night over the potential for failure. I cannot even spell the word” (Mattis).

NOTE: The above quotation is attributed to General James N. “Mad Dog” Mattis, USMC (Ret.). A full citation would appear on the Works Cited section of a paper.

Incidentally, the above Mattis example is not two complete lines of text.

In-text citations are required for any source used

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Primary Online Source 1: The Moore article

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Primary Online Source 2: A related online source of your choice written by a different author. This source must be dated (day, month and year) and have an author (minimum first name, last name). Ask the instructor about exceptions.

Tertiary Online Source (not required): A related online source if desired but not required.

A word about the Bible and reference sources: The Bible is a great source, but the Bible, other sacred documents, and reference sources (such as the dictionary or encyclopedia) may be used only as tertiary sources, not secondary sources.

When you review the model essay in the “Handouts and Course Documents section, notice that there is one short quote (from research) in the paper. Most of the writing in the paper is created by you, the student, not quoted from another source.

POINT OF VIEW: Compose the essay in the third-person point of view of Joe, the ABC Telecommunications employee. REMINDER: Do not include the employee or anyone else in the thesis, but make sure to provide the given name of the third person in each paragraph. 

Your response should be a minimum of 500 words, including introduction, three body paragraphs (minimum), and conclusion. The Works Cited page is never included in the word count.  Identify this assignment as "Formal Essay 4."