Watching (and enjoying) the same things again and again

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When I find YouTube videos I enjoy, such as certain CollegeHumor sketches or recordings of Olympic gymnasts doing amazing floor routines, I find that I will watch them over and over and over for quite a while. For example, over about a week and a half, I watched a certain video 4-5 times almost every day, with genuinely the same level of intrigue and enjoyment each time.

This might be a silly question, but do most people do this? Or is it an aspie thing? Or a not-aspie but still weird thing? As a kid, I did this sort of stuff with magazines, too.

I do that! Videos might feel weird because it's a relatively new technology? Reading the same thing or listening to the same music over and over people (especially autistic people) have been doing for ages. I don't know if you do any of that though.
RE: Enjoyment, my partner said today that my level of enjoyment and enthusiasm is constant all the time when doing something fun Haven't thought about that it waxed and waned for others. And yes I'm also often as amused the next 328490283094 times I repeat something as otherwise I wouldn't do it.

<-- repetition buff

Maybe a (not necessarily universal) definition for autism could be, "the inability to tire of things"

There are Youtube videos that I watch multiple times on a single day. There are also Youtube videos that I watch a few times every year or so with the same level of excitement.

The same goes for me with video games. There are games that I've played through well over 5 times and they still keep being fun(although they get a little easy after playing them so many times ).

If it's an aspie thing? Not sure, I know NT's sometimes watch the same thing multiple times too but I think they do it less frequently?

I think that's a pretty universal definition. In a very real neurological way We can't get tired (or tire of things) in the same way NTs can. At least not while enjoying ourselves. That's part of what "repetitive behavior" and superfocus is about.

It's fantastic for programmers.

If I hear a song I like, I'll go to YouTube and find as many alternate performances by the original singer and cover versions by other people, and play them over and over. Sometimes this goes on for nearly two hours.

I can later in the same day do it again, sometimes.

This doesn't sound "Aspie" by any chance, does it?

I do this all the time. I find it calming.

I often like a video so much I watch it several times, if it's not too long. When I was younger I used to do the same thing with videos of classic cartoons or shows I taped on my VCR. I've also reread books a lot. Little kids are known to often do this because the familiarity brings comfort (like a blankie), but apparently in older people it's a typical aspie trait. I don't know why, people in general seem to hate change more than ever and the word is changing too, much too fast, and usually not for the better anyway.

Bookkeeping can be very repetitive as well!

I do this with tv shows . I just love the fact that you can now stream them on line . I tend to find a show I like then watch all of it , sometimes 8 series back to back and I get very upset if something interrupts me ( even sleep) then I will watch it backward from last to first . It's usually US sitcoms these days. The one TV show that as always stuck though is Red Dwarf . I used to have to watch at least two episodes before I went to sleep or could just not sleep as something was missing, Even though I could recite every episode from memory.
I was ecstatic when they recently made new ones . Even though I have a real problem with remembering names I knew the names of all the crew characters and who played them.

I can easy get lost on Youtube . It's the suggested videos that get me .If I go to find something specific I am looking for and see something in the suggestions that catches my eye , I can end up lost in another all consuming interest for the next six months.

My son is the same as me but with music . If he finds a song he likes he has been known to play it on repeat for weeks with no brake . Then find every variant and plays those over and over . This can grind on my brain , but how can you complain that you'r kid is too much like you . I just sit and take it until I can't and just snap.

I often put a song or group of songs on repeat for long periods of time, generally 1-3 hours. I also put DVDs on repeat, sometimes for days at a time. My wife tolerates it fairly well, but I try to use headphones now or watch a DVD on my computer instead of the TV so it doesn't annoy her.

I've been doing this a lot lately with this video! The other day I must have watched it over a dozen times!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW_aWY5PubI[/youtube]
I got this song on my Ipod, and I've been listening to it a lot the past few days.

I do this. I listen to the same songs over and over again. When I was younger and had to chose what video to watch I always watched a Star Wars video!

If there's a youtube video you're enjoying, put 'endless' into the web address before the word youtube and it'll redirect you to a site which will loop that video for you forever. You can also loop sections if there's a particular bit that you like!

So, yes, I do this all the time. Actually, if there's a particular video I want to see on repeat, it'd be quite difficult for me just to watch something else as it'd make me quite grumpy.