The Quarterlife crisis is a term applied

to the period of life immediately

following the major changes of
adolescence, usually ranging from the
early twenties to the early thirties. The
term is named by analogy with mid-life
crisis.
Quarterlife: User Generated Television; Create Your Life

A Case Study
by
Jennifer Francis
A place for artists thinkers and doers
 Background
Quarterlife is a show about a group of twentysomethings coming of age in the digital
generation. It also happens to be a social network about what it means to be creative, to
pursue a passion, to make a difference in the world -- or just to find a place in it.

Main Character Dylan Krieger is a self-proclaimed writer who works as an associate editor at
a fictional magazine called Attitude. She keeps a video blog on the social networking website
Quarterlife. The show revolves around her views of her friends, her work place and herself,
which she then tells us the viewers on the Quarterlife website.

The show started on November 11th 2007, the first episode having 889,552 views on
Youtube. It ran for a total of 36 episodes averaging to around 8minutes each. Having no
consecutive timetable to their premiering, the last episode was broadcast online on March
9th 2008.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSeazwhILo4
 Institution
Though Quarterlife was created and produced by Marshall Herskovitz and
Edward Zwick. It was funded by Bedford Falls Productions who also produced
the TV series thirtysomething that was at its prime in the 1980’s.

In my opinion the reason for producing the show is to do with finding a way to
connect to people living in the online age, those who don’t spend time watching
television and do just about everything on there computers. The original platform
for the show was on the actual Quarterlife website, this in itself shows that it was
made to target a niche audience, as not a lot of people, if any have heard of
Quarterlife the video blogging website. In a way you could say that the text is in
disguise as they’ve made a show to target people who actually live their lives like
the characters.

http://www.imdb.com/company/co0113596/
 Age
Though the show was aimed at
Audience Gender
Though the main V-logger is a
an audience between their early female the comments on all three
20’s to early 30’s they reached internet channels come from both
a much younger demographic of Males and Females alike.
16 to 25 year olds
Spending Power
Ethnicity Students who cant afford
to go out so spend there
Though the characters are
time online
Caucasian there’s no reason for it
not to appeal to people of all
ethnicities as it’s aim isn’t to relate Location
to people in the online age
Live in Rural areas with
nothing interesting going on,
Nationality that way they can relate to the
American, as that’s where it was cast
made and is where all the cast
live. Though it was released Style Personality
globally on the world web web Passionate, easy going, fun type
meaning its not restricted to just The people who watch the show people. The type that can take the
one nationality are most likely to be the artistic positive criticism given to the work
type, those that are interested in they may post online
Class art, media, drama etc Hobbies
Working classed because the Video/blogging, making and sharing things
characters are simple people they make (Videos, artistic creations) online
stuck in dead end jobs so that people can comment and give
feedback. Also going out with friends when
they have money
 Production
Quarterlife was enabled by Web 2.0 as the only place you can find the show is
online on the Quarterlife website and its online page. Without this the would not
have existed. The show was specifically made to be shown online as that’s who
their target audience are, if it was shown on the television then they wont have
been able to reach their target audience so well

The production has been enhanced by web 2.0 by disproving that it would do as
well on Television as it had done online. The abrupt cancellation of the show on
the NBC channel enhanced its online popularity as it encouraged those that only
saw the one episode on NBC to go and find out more about the show at its online
base.
 Distribution/Exhibition
The main platform for Quarterlife is the
internet.
It got aired on the Quarterlife website
as well as its MySpace page every
week.
Though that’s where it started off, it
was then eventually put onto Youtube.
It and had it’s 60 seconds of fame on
NBC on February 26th 2008. Where it
got cancelled after one episode as its
debut was the worst performance
seen by an NBC show in at least 17
years.
Quarterlife being broadcast on an online
blog community meant that it was
exposed to a mass amount of comment
by lovers and haters alike.
Though the show was made to appeal to
the online age, I think that they wouldn’t
have changed the content if they had
been given the chance as it would
completely defy the point of creativity and
individuality, which is what the Quarterlife
age is all about.
Perhaps they may have change it in the
television adaptation, but certainly not
online
 360 degree Saturation
Quarterlife has no form of 360 degree saturation.
It can be viewed on Youtube, Quarterlife and on MySpace.
You can’t find any kind of merchandise whether it be a t-shirt or a mug.
The largest chance it got at, at least entering into the 180degree bracket
was when it got picked up briefly by NBC.
I think this could be the reason it was never able to generate enough
publicity to be aired on NBC, Granted that if at least a few people were
seen at school or uni in a Quarterlife T-shirt then others would have been
curious.
That way when NBC aired the teaser trailers they maybe would have
thought…
“Bobina was wearing a Quarterlife tee the other day at school, might be
worth watching”
 3.0 Future
Though there is no hope of Quarterlife returning, the Quarterlife website
already have in the works a documentary series called I believe, about an
atheist with a qualification in religion.
There is also talk of a new series of Quarterlife with an entirely different cast.
They have begun to lay the foundations for by getting the audience to
upload a video of them self to the website.
They seem to be trying to expand their demographic by going in a different
direction with the documentary type show I believe.

I have to say that I personally am not sure whether they

will make it in the 3.0 future.
They never had an merchandise to support the
Quarterlife series, it was broadcast semi-regularly for a
total of 36 episodes.
The viewers who loved it can’t even get some kind of
memorabilia, they need 360 degree saturation in there
next project.
http://seeika.ning.com/page/i-believe
 Theory
Wikinomics
It is a mass collaboration of individuals to co-operate and solve problems

Quarterlife in the terms of wikinomics, uses free creativity and Global thinking.
As the Show itself is about being able to express yourself and thus sharing your
thoughts and Ideas with others like yourself on a global level. Though the show
itself doesn’t give any leeway to allow watchers to change what they see, the
website allows users to communicated and critique others. Giving them room for
improvement, it’s a mass collaboration of ideas as people share opinions.

Long Tail
the internet allows for a vast variety of content.

The long tail theory is about how a niche audience will consumer more than a
group of mainstream. Quarterlife applied to this niche audience, shows that they
will watch Quarterlife then go and find similar shows online out of curiosity, may it
be Lonely Girl 15 or E20 which is a form of distribute, a long tail idea. As apposed
to if they watched it on television and they would have to wait for an
advertisement of a new show as apposed to looking for one to watch. The long
tail theory has made watching online only shows more popular.
 Theory
Web 2.0

We normal everyday people can have our own input into media as before Media
2.0, media was a very one way thing, as media was created by professionals and
we had no choice to watch it the way they made it. Now that we know we have a
choice as to what we want to and what we don’t want to watch, the professionals
have decided if you cant beat them, join them, thus shows like Quarterlife, Kate
Modern and Freak were invented.

Reception Theory
It's a theory which is a persons response to a theory in a way which the
audience gives their own interpretation. In this case Quarterlife is a way the
professionals gave an interpretation of how they view the online age and
how we interact with each other. A way to re-communicate with us as we
have stopped communicating with them
 Theory
Uses and Gratification Theory
The different ways in how people can relate to the media, these being

Integration and social interaction

Information
Those that watch the show on
Youtube or MySpace may have then
decided to set up a Quarterlife
account, as the show spread the word
of the website.
They have integrated the website into
the show, such as popular TV series
iCarly. People can post comment about
each episode which others can read
and either agree or disagree to.

Entertainment Personal Identity

Quarterlife, is still categorised as a The ethos of Quarterlife is in fact A

drama, so that the audience can relate
to the fictional characters and in that
way its entertaining as people do tune
in or have an RSS feed for when the
next show is aired online
place for artists thinkers and doers.
Making a show about a person who
posts about there life on the actual
Quarterlife site completely relates to the
audience
 Issues
It will be very difficult for Quarterlife to press charges for copyright
infringement because there are may similar online shows, and other could
argue that the basis of the show was copied form their own, as the idea of a
person telling the audience about they’re life through a V-log for
entertainment isn’t so creative anymore, as all the professionals are trying it
out one way or another.
Characters like Dylan only exist because of the medias reach to try and get
a grasp in the online age