Going on a binge means doing something to the point where it is considered excessive. People have been binge smoking, drinking, eating and even binge sleeping for ages, but there’s a new way to over-indulge — binge viewing.

Thanks to digital innovations, fans of television can consume seasons of their favorite TV shows in one sitting. With the influx in television-streaming websites like Netflix, Hulu and HBO Go focused on entertainment, it is exceptionally easy to watch your favorite shows instantly.

But what makes someone watch two, five, or ten episodes in a row?

“I tend to watch more streams and episodes when I am tired or just trying to procrastinate,” Freshman Nick Kropp stated. “It’s easy to get carried away.”

In a college atmosphere, it is very easy for students to feel pressure and to feel stressed. At the end of a long day, or during a long cram study session, students may need to kick back and binge watch a television show.

“If I am working on a project, I’ll put on Netflix in the background to just keep myself entertained while I’m working,” said Sophomore Michelle Hoskins. “It helps me to not freak out over how much work I have to do”.

Netflix has funded and released several original series to aid the crisis. House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey, is a high-budget Netflix original series that they released on their site. Where most television shows are released one episode per week, House of Cards is released all at once.

Netflix uses its service to post an entire season at once so people could watch at their leisure. It seems as though Netflix is encouraging binge watching, and they are keeping up with this trend by releasing show after show all at once. Orange is the New Black was released July 11, 2013 and was released as a complete set as well. The entire 13 episode was available to Netflix subscribers right away, because that is what the viewers are demanding.

“I watch Netflix a lot, mostly when I am bored,” said freshman Ethan Childress. “I watched both seasons of American Horror Story in one sitting.”

A person might binge watch to relieve stress, unwind, or pass the time, but for people like Oakland University Cinema Studies instructor, Professor Hunter Vaughan, it can be for pure enjoyment and self-indulgence.

“I rarely watch to intentionally pass the time, though that is certainly a side effect,” Professor Hunter Vaughan said. “I usually do it because it is a show I have been wanting to see, and for whatever reason I find myself with a down day or night. Binging loves company, so when you binge-watch with someone a little conspiracy or self indulgence grows between you.”

Whether a person binge watches for enjoyment, to distress, or to indulge for the evening, the fact is that marathons of television are being watched, and the flood of people watching is trending upwards. As Hulu and Netflix continue to gain steam in the online world of streaming, there will only be more cases where people binge on their favorite shows.