Comments on The Official Netflix Blog: Talking about Netflix Community

what tatn

2008-10-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

what tatn

yes thanks

2008-10-12T07:43:00.001-07:00

yes thanks

In all honesty, my friends (I have six) all gave u...

2008-10-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

In all honesty, my friends (I have six) all gave up on the friends' features when the two-cent mini-reviews turned into "notes." Some still leave notes from time to time, but that happens only rarely. When we talk about the community features, they say the page is too busy and they don't have the time to bother with i

Here's an interesting article on 'Introverts' vs. ...

2007-10-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting article on 'Introverts' vs. 'Extroverts' - or 'The self-contained' vs. 'Those requiring a lot of input', as it suggests - which might help explain why some of us are having trouble getting certain friends to use the community features!

http://briankim.net/blog/2007/10/top-5-things -every-extrovert-should-know-about-introverts/

Facebook is the key. Many of us are now using it a...

2007-10-07T00:49:00.000-07:00

Facebook is the key. Many of us are now using it as our "personality" portal to the world. What's the first questions people always ask when they are trying to get to know someone? "What kind of music do you like?" "What kind of movies do you like?"

Flixster is really good but I already have over 400 movie ratings and 800+ recommendations, I'd really love to share those on Facebook.

I'm surprised Netflix hasn't done this yet...the RSS feeds are nice but they don't really get the interactivity aspect done.

I suggest checking out the iLike Facebook plugin model.

I'd REALLY like to see you guys over there. Leverage what's already out there and you are golden.

At the bottom of my community page, it will say a ...

2007-10-04T16:17:00.000-07:00

At the bottom of my community page, it will say a few random people with similar tastes to me, but I want to see a list of all the people similar to me. I want to be able to find people who are the most similar to me. There should be some way to search for them.

I am spending more time "playing" with all the new...

2007-10-03T16:40:00.000-07:00

I am spending more time "playing" with all the new features than watching movies. Love them all. One irritating thing, though, is to create four or five reviews and then never have them show up on my site.

To be honest I've never discussed Netflix's featur...

2007-10-02T18:36:00.000-07:00

To be honest I've never discussed Netflix's features with any of my friends (a whopping 4). I'm probably the only one that has faves considering their usage. Hell, I can barely get one to rate his movies. I need better friends. :(

PK

@ My friends' time.... . I'm confused. Can't you j...

2007-10-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

@ My friends' time.... . I'm confused. Can't you just ask your friends/colleages/family if they're a member, whether in person, on the phone, text-ting or e-mail (a mere 5 seconds of their valuable time!)? Of what possible help would a directory of anonymous people be, since most of us insist on maintaining the separation between the Netflix world and the outside world. But if you want to use your real name to wave hello to people, I've never read any strictures against doing that.

I don't see myself really using friends and faves ...

2007-09-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

I don't see myself really using friends and faves until Netflix offers a "friend finder" like Facebook. Who wants to get an email about Netflix unless they are already member? Maybe 1 in 10 people I know. Help friends who are already members find each other!! Technically, I don't think it's that hard, but it's a really nice feature.

W O W I just noticed that the Lists are now in pos...

2007-09-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

W O W
I just noticed that the Lists are now in poster format. That is great and should be much more fun to look through and easier to know what the movie is about. Great job!!!

Michael, For the first time I have all my Faves on...

2007-09-28T17:13:00.000-07:00

Michael,
For the first time I have all my Faves on the page and the numbers match on the tab. Very cool.

Did you change the Friends ID to the nickname? If so I like that.

A WANT - I'd like to see a tally of the ratings for me and be able to see it for Faves. I'm curious to know what % of movies I and others rate at the different levels.

Something like:
NetflixID - rated 2000 movies
10% 5 star, 20% 4 star, 40% 3 star, 20% 2 star, 10% 1 star, o% not interested

Or if not a % then the actual number of each. It would tell me how tough a rater my Faves are and be interesting to see how I rate movies but without a tally on the ratinging I don't want to count mine.

Any chance of that happening?

First, I must reiterate what Chawk and others have...

2007-09-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

First, I must reiterate what Chawk and others have expressed with regard to the bugs still plaguing the new features. To expect anyone new to have a rewarding experience within the community, they must be more reliable than their current state. I too have Faves that come and go on an hourly basis. Also, my new reviews (my favorite form of contribution to the Netflix community) have not posted in 6 weeks. Once these issues have been rectified, then introducing these features to larger groups of Netflix members will have a more positive effect.

Also, as mentioned by Snooker and Ang, the Sim% I too find extremely misleading. Some of my favorite "Faves" bear a meager 45-55% similarity to me. Is this because my love of such a wide variety of genres eliminate members who maybe watch Thrillers and Horror films exclusively? This is a prime example of why I, for one, would love the opportunity to see the 1-4 star films these members have rated.

Now as to the question of how to engage more members in these community features, I would echo the sentiment of many on this thread that really are unsure. I feel the most effective way (at least initially) to prompt more traffic would be to address the the users of the more casual community features such as "Helpful/Not Helpful" with regard to the reviews. A simple prompt reminding users that find reviews helpful to "save this member to your Faves and follow their future reviews" could prompt that casual user to become more engaged. They have already stated an interest in the reviews which implies that those members use Netflix for more than just the the Movie Queue. It also would not feel as intrusive as a pop-up on the Queue (a section that has little if nothing to do with the community section) and not as easily overlooked as an email blast to all members (I delete all Netflix emails before reading unless I am expecting a specific reply from customer service).

At any rate, keep plugging away at the new features. Each new release offers more ways for me to find great films that I may have never run across on my own. Cheers!

@Mike…It wouldn't have to be an actual pop up wind...

2007-09-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

@Mike…

It wouldn't have to be an actual pop up window, but could be incorporated on the main page.

Like the embedded box that opens on the home page in the "other movies you might enjoy space" that if you click on "close" closes.

Or on the movies you'll love page at the top of the page, it could alternate with the "To Get the Best Suggestions" embedded window, which you can close if it bothers you.

☺ Or the box that is there that suggests you write a review on the community page.

Or for S&G'ls simply create a button at the top in big BOLD text that says Randomizer.

Curiosity is the one thing you can always count on.

Kind of like getting your very first computer, being really green, spending an hour trying to find the "AnyKey", and another hour on the phone waiting for tech support so you can tell them you cannot find the "AnyKey".

Folks will do it because they can.

In looking at the members most similar to you, I'v...

2007-09-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

In looking at the members most similar to you, I've been quite surprised at how many of their 5-star rated movies just don't appeal to me. Sure there are some similarities, but nothing that makes me say "I want to check out more of what this person has to say? or whatever, and these are sims of 70 - 77 %.

I totally agree. I've found plenty of 80+% people and for the most part, I hate or do not want to watch the movies they've rated 5-stars. Also, I rated too many movies "not interested" so now I don't have any recommendations.

Because of this (and unlike snooker), I'm actually counting on some of these new features to help me find movies. Which means I'm counting on other people using these features, too.

I've been trying to get my online friends to use the new community features, but they have the same wish I do (that we can use anonymous nicknames with friends, too) and my real life friends just aren't interesting right now. I'm not sure how get newbies excited about it all. I like the idea of the pop up on pertinent pages, like the one we got in our queue a while back. And the randomizer suggestion is pretty cool, too.

How about instead of popping up Friend's new featu...

2007-09-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

How about instead of popping up Friend's new features on the main page, having it come up on the Recommendations page? Or when someone finds a user's review as helpful maybe suggesting that person to be a fave?

@2mcabre. That's a really great idea : bring the w...

2007-09-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

@2mcabre. That's a really great idea : bring the water to the horse, in effect! But you still have to deal with those people (and i too know a few) who don't EVER want ANYTHING popping out at them, and who are rather more likely to call Customer Service in a snit than plunge happily in 'the maze', like most of us would, and do.

OK, heres a thought. How about a "Randomizer"? OK ...

2007-09-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

OK, heres a thought. How about a "Randomizer"? OK I know, how does it get folks checking out the new features.

Well see, the randomizer will pop up folks icon who are "most" like the person signed on.

The premise is to help folks find a movie they will most likely "like" without them having to work hard at it. While still exposing them to the new features.

Easy Br-easy!

Simple Box, Titled

"Help me Find a Flick"

(click here to randomly select another NF user whose tastes are similar to yours!)

User Icon 82% Similar

Click on Icon to see this users lists of top rated movies that you may like, but not have seen before!

When they click on the icon the users page comes up with the default page being the list of top rated movies.

Curiosity will take care of the rest.

One nut now has 256 'friends and faves', and count...

2007-09-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

One nut now has 256 'friends and faves', and counting!! Maybe ask him/her to articulate the intoxicating appeal, and let the word go forth??

Yes best wishes, Eric. Maybe save yourselves a few bucks and downgrade to 1-out-at-a-time for the next 2 years before your next monthly subscription kicks in, 'cos that's all you're going to have have time for ;-)

Congratulations Eric! :)Wishing you and yours al...

2007-09-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Eric! :)

Wishing you and yours all the very best.

And you’re right; having a lot of rated movies would be another very good indication of a motivated player.

Becky

I like Baff's idea too (having 'save to fave' next...

2007-09-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

I like Baff's idea too (having 'save to fave' next to the scrolling reviews, and maybe elsewhere too) for people who vaguely know about the feature but only as an abstract concept; so if they saw a review that made them go "wow, that guy/gal really nailed it, gotta see what they have to say about other movies", then they'd finally 'get' what 'save to faves' means (although "More of Flixster's reviews" kinda has that covered). But for the average user like Dan's, Harry's and Becky's friends it would probably just confuse the hell out of them, just as the blog link did, so maybe bring it on-board -- whether temporarily or permanently -- when everyone understands what's going on?

I think baff's onto something...

2007-09-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

I think baff's onto something...

Regarding Harry and Becky's first comments, I thin...

2007-09-27T07:45:00.000-07:00

Regarding Harry and Becky's first comments, I think the best way to identify potential users of the new community features would be to target people who have rated a lot of movies. People who don't take time to even rate their movies probably aren't going to be interested in entering the community maze.

As far as how you should pitch the new features to potential users... I'm at a bit of a loss there. Honestly, I really haven't used them much yet. I like the idea of the new features, and I intend to use them at some point, but with my queue already up over 400 movies and my available viewing time waning (first child on the way any day now), I don't see much point in looking for more movies to add to the already insurmountable pile.

Jake,I don’t think people are being ‘pissy,’ or po...

2007-09-27T03:04:00.000-07:00

Jake,

I don’t think people are being ‘pissy,’ or pointing out or rehashing problems, or potential problems, just for the fun of it. He did ask about how our friends would view these features. It’s hard to figure out how to promote the features when they are still being developed, and we’re all still figuring out how we are going to be able to use them. We also can’t be certain any concerns we might have or potential snags we could conceive, have been considered yet or not. So far I’ve seen some honest, insightful thoughts from people who love what is going on so far, and love the potential even more.

We all know we are in a testing phase… Which is why problems are mentioned when we find them, so it can be gauged whether they are wide spread, and then fixed all the sooner whenever they aren’t working as intended… And criticism is necessary in the creative process, especially when it’s instructive as well as constructive. I think some basic insights are unfolding here that are interesting and could be very helpful. Like how useful the features are, or could be, and to whom.

Strategic pop-ups and targeted e-mails are both excellent ideas, and Harry may not be a PR guy but that’s not a bad start there…

Becky

I like Chawk's idea of strategic pop-ups for peopl...

2007-09-27T01:19:00.000-07:00

I like Chawk's idea of strategic pop-ups for people who like to play - but again, many people don't so there'd have to be a way to turn them off.

I think people are generally being rather harsh about the current fully acknowledged bugs. Isn't the whole point of getting this stuff out in stages to work out the kinks as they show up? Can't we just tell Michael what the problems are, as he's asked us to, without being quite so pissy about it?