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All the signs indicate that Netflix has become a user hostile company that is prioritising ongoing user engagement and stickiness over their users needs. It's

All the signs indicate that Netflix has become a user hostile company that is prioritising ongoing user engagement and stickiness over their users needs. It's starting to remind me of another company which at one point in their evolution prioritised user engagement over everything else – Facebook. Once this occurs, it is a long slippery slope which leads to a series of user hostile internal decisions which ultimately leads to the user and their privacy becoming the product. When you actually pay for Netflix and this is their modus operandi it leaves a large opening for a competitor with a more user-focused approach to come in and gain marketshare. A few examples of how Netflix is prioritising engagement over their users: - Auto-playing shows once a show has finished (this leads lazy users unnecessarily watching more Netflix) - Promoting Netflix shows above third party content, irrespective of quality. This prioritises what's best for Netflix instead of promoting the best content for the user. - Algorithmically modifying the poster frames / thumbnails of shows to be more appealing to users. Again promoting engagement and misleading users of the true content of the show. - Removing the ability to easily see the complete catalogue via comprehensive categories, which enhances the reliance users have on algorithmic suggestions I'm sure all of this has been tested in Netflix and they can show that these approaches increase stickiness and engagement. Stickiness and engagement is not what is in the users best interest however and over the medium and long term I think it will be detrimental to a better measurement which is user satisfaction.

SturgeonsLaw 8y ago
> Removing the ability to easily see the complete catalogue via comprehensive categories, which enhances the reliance users have on algorithmic suggestions To me, this one seems counterproductive to both Netflix's and the consumer's shared goal of engaging in interesting, new content. I've had occasions where I've signed in to my "guest" profile and seen media that never appeared at all under my main profile, and have enjoyed watching it, where at the same time my main profile has felt a bit stale. Netflix might have confidence in their all seeing all knowing algorithm, but with myself as a single data point, it has sometimes failed to suggest things that I've found interesting.
- kazagistar 8y ago
  Its prefiltering or even conditioning users. If you are like me and generally have a very specific idea of what to watch from a preestablished curation funnel, you will find Netflix provides very little value. But if you just wanna sit down and watch whatever Netflix offers up to you, you will end up being a much simpler user to cater to. All they need then is a large volume of things that are vaguely good and vaguely similar to what you like. But you might not end up wathing what's actually the best.
mc32 8y ago
While the psychology field is rife with poorly done studies, unreplicated studies etc., they have a decent idea regarding addiction and the mind. It would be tremendous good will if Netlifx took insight from psychology and applied it to their customer's mental health _rather_ than for the opposite, in the form or binge watching and engagement. Otherwise their motive is not distinguishable from that of opioid merchants.
lh7777 8y ago
I think their worst decision of late is to include auto-playing "trailers" (with sound!) when you pause for more than a second on a title. Between that and the lack of a decent "browse by category" interface you mentioned, I rarely bother using the TV UI to discover content. Googling "what's good on netflix" works much better for me. At least you can still disable the auto-play next episode "feature".
- mx24 8y ago
  God I hate the automatic playing of trailers. I usually mute my receiver so that I can peacefully browse and read through descriptions only to find out that there’s nothing on Netflix I actually want to watch.
- Semaphor 8y ago
  > auto-playing "trailers" (with sound!) I've read about this a few times. If you disable it once, does it get disabled permanently? Because Netflix (unlike the Amazon Prime Video ads) never plays trailers with sound for me. > auto-play next episode "feature" I'd certainly call it a feature. I'd hate having to manually click every time I want to see a new episode.
  - lorenzhs 8y ago
    My TV's Netflix app doesn't have an option to disable the auto-playing trailers, or even just their sound (short of muting the TV). It's quite annoying.
    - Semaphor 8y ago
      ah, okay, that makes sense. Though to be fair, that sounds like a shitty app (one of many reasons I have a dumb TV).
      - lh7777 8y ago
        Are you able to disable auto-playing trailers, or are you just using the web interface or a smartphone/tablet that don't have this feature in the first place? I have a recent AppleTV, which doesn't have any way to disable auto-playing trailers. Same for my previous STB (Roku). This is a somewhat new feature, so some older STBs and Smart TVs don't have it, but that's just because they can't be updated to the latest version of the Netflix app. You can disable auto-play next episode across all interfaces and devices in the settings on netflix.com. I just wish there was an equivalent switch for trailers.
1123581321 8y ago
I disable auto-play. I prefer the other changes, though, especially the modified thumbnails. Several times I’ve watched something because a thumbnail made me realize a certain actor was in a show. More generally, though, if I’m a customer, and “engagement” keeps me wanting to subscribe, is it bad if Netflix gets me to use it more in a month? Assume there is nothing wrong with watching TV.
V-2 8y ago
> Algorithmically modifying the poster frames / thumbnails of shows to be more appealing to users. Again promoting engagement and misleading users of the true content of the show. But it's not necessarily "misleading". Eg. if I like actor A and you like actor B, and both are starring in the movie, showing us two different posters with actor A and B respectively doesn't really mislead neither of us. With posters it's always "blind men and an elephant" anyway. For what it's worth, I recommend the RateFlix extension for Chrome. It augments Netlifx UI by showing IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes ratings next to the titles. It makes it much easier to dismiss most of the trash.
- oarsinsync 8y ago
  > > Algorithmically modifying the poster frames / thumbnails of shows to be more appealing to users. > But it's not necessarily "misleading" I suspect GP was talking about when Netflix was accused of displaying different posters based on race in an attempt to manipulate and mislead[0]: > Rather than showcasing its two white leads, the poster for Like Father instead suggests to some subscribers that there are major roles for African-American actors Blaire Brooks and Leonard Ouzts [0] https://news.sky.com/story/netflix-deceiving-black-users-with-creepy-posters-11531429 https://news.sky.com/story/netflix-deceiving-black-users-wit...
  - V-2 8y ago
    How does Netflix know what race I am?

SturgeonsLaw 8y ago

> Removing the ability to easily see the complete catalogue via comprehensive categories, which enhances the reliance users have on algorithmic suggestions To me, this one seems counterproductive to both Netflix's and the consumer's shared goal of engaging in interesting, new content. I've had occasions where I've signed in to my "guest" profile and seen media that never appeared at all under my main profile, and have enjoyed watching it, where at the same time my main profile has felt a bit stale. Netflix might have confidence in their all seeing all knowing algorithm, but with myself as a single data point, it has sometimes failed to suggest things that I've found interesting.

kazagistar 8y ago
Its prefiltering or even conditioning users. If you are like me and generally have a very specific idea of what to watch from a preestablished curation funnel, you will find Netflix provides very little value. But if you just wanna sit down and watch whatever Netflix offers up to you, you will end up being a much simpler user to cater to. All they need then is a large volume of things that are vaguely good and vaguely similar to what you like. But you might not end up wathing what's actually the best.

mc32 8y ago

While the psychology field is rife with poorly done studies, unreplicated studies etc., they have a decent idea regarding addiction and the mind. It would be tremendous good will if Netlifx took insight from psychology and applied it to their customer's mental health _rather_ than for the opposite, in the form or binge watching and engagement. Otherwise their motive is not distinguishable from that of opioid merchants.

lh7777 8y ago

I think their worst decision of late is to include auto-playing "trailers" (with sound!) when you pause for more than a second on a title. Between that and the lack of a decent "browse by category" interface you mentioned, I rarely bother using the TV UI to discover content. Googling "what's good on netflix" works much better for me. At least you can still disable the auto-play next episode "feature".

mx24 8y ago
God I hate the automatic playing of trailers. I usually mute my receiver so that I can peacefully browse and read through descriptions only to find out that there’s nothing on Netflix I actually want to watch.
Semaphor 8y ago
> auto-playing "trailers" (with sound!) I've read about this a few times. If you disable it once, does it get disabled permanently? Because Netflix (unlike the Amazon Prime Video ads) never plays trailers with sound for me. > auto-play next episode "feature" I'd certainly call it a feature. I'd hate having to manually click every time I want to see a new episode.
- lorenzhs 8y ago
  My TV's Netflix app doesn't have an option to disable the auto-playing trailers, or even just their sound (short of muting the TV). It's quite annoying.
  - Semaphor 8y ago
    ah, okay, that makes sense. Though to be fair, that sounds like a shitty app (one of many reasons I have a dumb TV).
    - lh7777 8y ago
      Are you able to disable auto-playing trailers, or are you just using the web interface or a smartphone/tablet that don't have this feature in the first place? I have a recent AppleTV, which doesn't have any way to disable auto-playing trailers. Same for my previous STB (Roku). This is a somewhat new feature, so some older STBs and Smart TVs don't have it, but that's just because they can't be updated to the latest version of the Netflix app. You can disable auto-play next episode across all interfaces and devices in the settings on netflix.com. I just wish there was an equivalent switch for trailers.

1123581321 8y ago

I disable auto-play. I prefer the other changes, though, especially the modified thumbnails. Several times I’ve watched something because a thumbnail made me realize a certain actor was in a show. More generally, though, if I’m a customer, and “engagement” keeps me wanting to subscribe, is it bad if Netflix gets me to use it more in a month? Assume there is nothing wrong with watching TV.

V-2 8y ago

> Algorithmically modifying the poster frames / thumbnails of shows to be more appealing to users. Again promoting engagement and misleading users of the true content of the show. But it's not necessarily "misleading". Eg. if I like actor A and you like actor B, and both are starring in the movie, showing us two different posters with actor A and B respectively doesn't really mislead neither of us. With posters it's always "blind men and an elephant" anyway. For what it's worth, I recommend the RateFlix extension for Chrome. It augments Netlifx UI by showing IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes ratings next to the titles. It makes it much easier to dismiss most of the trash.

oarsinsync 8y ago
> > Algorithmically modifying the poster frames / thumbnails of shows to be more appealing to users. > But it's not necessarily "misleading" I suspect GP was talking about when Netflix was accused of displaying different posters based on race in an attempt to manipulate and mislead[0]: > Rather than showcasing its two white leads, the poster for Like Father instead suggests to some subscribers that there are major roles for African-American actors Blaire Brooks and Leonard Ouzts [0] https://news.sky.com/story/netflix-deceiving-black-users-with-creepy-posters-11531429 https://news.sky.com/story/netflix-deceiving-black-users-wit...
- V-2 8y ago
  How does Netflix know what race I am?