As of mid-March Netflix has integrated its system with Facebook to improve customer relations. According to Hayley Tsukayama’s, journalist for the Washington Post, article “Netflix introduces ‘Netflix Social’ to display videos you watch on Facebook “ Facebook users are now able to share recent movies or tv shows that they have watched on Netflix with their friends on Facebook. This will allow Netflix customers to view more movies and tv shows defined by the amount of people that are in their social network who have watched and rated or shared them on Facebook. Since the system was normally running on recommendations to the different individual customers, which only allowed people to get streaming of a narrow margin of movies and shows, now the option of watching what friends are watching will supposedly enhance the customers experience.
I think this is a great move for Netflix because their competitor, Amazon prime, is starting to creep up into that top spot for streaming movies for a monthly profit while having great benefits for students and their online customers. Netflix convergence with Facebook will not be a definite profit builder, but it shows shareholders and its customers innovation and change towards their market structure.
- Will participate in sharing your Netflix information to your social network?
- Do you guys feel that this integration of Netflix and Facebook affects the relations in our “Filter Bubble?”
Like a lot of families, my family all shares the one Netflix account. I wonder what my recommendations/viewing habits are going to look like in Facebook if the things I watch there are mixed in with all things my two boys watch on Netflix (at the moment, they’re plowing through all the old episodes from the cartoon show “The Transformers” from the past twenty years).
I also suspect that if I were to start sharing my Netflix viewing habits on Facebook, I’d be less likely to watch certain things I wouldn’t want my friends to know I watch. Instead, my viewing habits would start to reflect my aspirational self more if I were to go public with them.
What a smart move for Netflix. I agree with you that the move towards convergence with Facebook will show innovation on the part of Netflix. By linking up, Netflix will allow users to see what their friends are watching and base their next movie choice off of that. However, at the same time it is a dramatic step towards the filter bubble. The filter bubble as Eli Pariser, puts it “creates and refines a theory of who you are and what’ll you’ll do and want next.” It places each of us in our own exclusive bubble of information which alters the types of information we consume and ultimately alters our perceptions and views.
In the case of Netflix, we are further entering a filter bubble cause we are not receiving any new forms of information, although we may believe we are. In reality, the people that we are friends with generally have a lot in common with us. Therefore, when viewing our friend’s movie choices we are just seeing more of what we really want, under the pretense that we’re trying something new.
Personally I would not use this tool, Netflix already recommends Tv/movies based on what I have previously watched so I don’t find it necessary for them to recommend what my friends on Facebook are watching. Also, like many people on Facebook, some of the “friends” that I have I havent seen in years or barely even know, so I wouldnt be that interested in knowing their viewing preferences.
Personally, i dont think I would use this feature of netflix with Facebook. My Netflix account is shared with my family and it’s bad enough to see what recent things they have watched. There are just some things that dont need to be shared with friends, family, and the online world. For example, there are many documentaries and political movies available to be streamed on netflix. If I was to watch a controversial documentary or a liberal/conservative documentary and a future employer sees this they may not want to hire me due to my beliefs or what they think I am interested in. i’m not saying its a horrible idea to interwine Netflix and Facebook, but I dont think this is an option I would chose.