The funny thing about smartphone addiction is that it makes low-effort tasks seem completely productive. When I finally Stop doomscrolling Via Instagram and TikTok to watching an actual movie or TV show, I feel like I just spent an afternoon studying physics. Platforms like Netflix, once seen as time-wasting entertainment, now seem like the antidote to endless, pointless scrolling.
But Netflix doesn’t seem to appreciate his new role. Instead, the company apparently sees short-form video apps—and smartphones—as a direct threat to its business, and is jumping on the bandwagon. Not only that Netflix is now creating content with phone scrollers in mindencourages creators to craft dialogue that makes their shows and movies easy to understand, even if you’re not actually paying attention; Netflix also wants to position its mobile app as a real competitor to TikTok and Instagram by introducing a short-form video feed right inside the app.
Netflix’s Take on TikTok
The company Officially presented its plans Call back in January for a short-form video during its fourth-quarter earnings call. Then on Thursday the company Confirmed its plans to introduce a vertical video feed in its redesigned mobile apps by the end of this month. This is not entirely new, per se The company has been experimenting with vertical video feeds since MayBut this is the first time we’ve seen a Netflix official take on this kind of video.
Unlike TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube, you won’t be hopping on the Netflix app to find short-form videos from independent creators. Instead, Netflix will serve users clips from Netflix-distributed shows and movies in a scrollable TikTok-style feed. You can swipe through this feed and watch clips Stranger Things, Emily in ParisOr Bridgerton. Many of us already waste our time watching clips of shows and movies on other platforms – often cropped, slowed down or sped up, low-quality and beset by artifacts to ward off copyright claims. Netflix obviously doesn’t have to do this, so I expect the experience to be full of high-quality videos (depending on how you define “quality” of course).
TV shows and movies won’t be the only ones on that feed. Netflix also has big plans for its video podcasts, which are growing following a deal with Spotify And iHeartMedia to bring existing podcasts to its platform. Expect Netflix to sprinkle clips from these video podcasts into a short-form feed to create an experience that doesn’t feel too far from scrolling through other apps.
What do you think so far?
The thing is, we were really close to seeing the potential a lot Content on this vertical feed and Netflix’s platform in general. was Netflix has acquired Warner Bros.I wouldn’t have been surprised to see clips from shows like HBO A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, White lotusAnd Euphoria. Now that the company has scaled back on its acquisition plans, the list of potential properties that could be turned into vertical videos has shrunk.
Catering to short attention spans
I get this move from a business perspective: Netflix is losing subscribers due to the addictive nature of vertical video apps. But do any of us really need another app to scroll through, especially when we’re already paying for access to the full content? It might be a helpful way to find new shows and movies to watch, but in all likelihood, it will just be another addictive waste of time. I have too many of them in my life as it is.
