How Netflix knows what you want to watch
Netflix is a big part of our family’s life, just like it is for many families, I imagine. We all have our own profiles. If you clicked on mine, you’d find it filled with drug, gangster, horror, and thriller-related content. This is not a reflection on me as a person fyi!
In 2024, users spent an average of one hour and four minutes daily on Netflix. With so much time being spent on the platform it’s a great opportunity to have a conversation with them about how it actually works and why it shows them certain thumbnails over others.
Netflix has been using AI for a long time to personalise the vast amount of content on the platform. Having lots of content is obviously a good thing, but it also creates choice paralysis. To experience this, just sit down with me and my wife at 8 p.m., and you’ll see this play out in real time!
The US holds the largest share of Netflix users, followed by Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Think about it: each viewer in these regions has different tastes. So, Netflix’s challenge isn’t just the sheer amount of content—it’s figuring out how to present it in a way that resonates with every individual viewer. This is why AI personalisation is so important to the business.
Netflix uses a variety of data points to filter and present content they believe you’re most likely to click on. Research shows that if a user doesn’t find something interesting within 90 seconds, they lose interest.
Here’s what Netflix analyses:
Your viewing habits: What you watch, how long you watch, whether you finished a series or movie, at which point you stopped watching, and how quickly you watched it. Viewing habits can be drsatclaly different, you could imagine a key time for my children is when they get back from school, whereas I would sit down around 8-9 when they are all asleep.
Similar preferences: What people with similar tastes are watching.
Technical aspects: Audio, camera angles, scene composition, and even the script to identify if scenes are action-packed or emotionally driven and what fit with your viewing tastes.
World events and holidays: To understand trends and tailor recommendations. Thinks like Covid could be classed as a world event, and Christmas, Valentines day etc could be classed as holidays. You can see how tastes could change during those periods
What do they do with all this analysis?
Content layout: They organise what films and shows you see first and where they appear on the screen.
Personalised thumbnails: A single movie or show could have multiple thumbnails, each tailored to different users.
Customised trailers: For example, if it shows that you enjoy films with strong female lead characters, the trailer and thumbnail might highlight that aspect.
Content creation: The data also informs Netflix on what kind of content to create and how to adapt future projects down the where the best locations would be, what type of scripts and subjects and even down what the weather will be like to film. You could imagine any efficiencies in this area could be massive for the business if they are spending up to 17 billion a year on new content.
Critical thinking questions for children about Netflix
Here’s a list of questions you can ask to help your child think more critically about Netflix and its impact:
Q. How do you think Netflix decides what shows or movies to make or buy?
This will get them thinking about how Netflix knows what people want to watch.
Q. What do you like about Netflix compared to watching traditional TV? Is there anything you don’t like?
This helps them compare how Netflix is different and think about what they enjoy the most. I imagine this will spark a discussion about what traditional TV actually is ;)
Q. Do you think Netflix’s suggestions make it easier or harder to choose what to watch?
Encourage them to think about whether Netflix helps them explore new things or just sticks to stuff they already like.
Q. How do you think Netflix makes certain shows or movies really popular?
This will get them thinking about how Netflix can shape what everyone is talking about.
Q. If you could make your own Netflix show, what would it be about? Why do you think people would love it?
Fosters creativity while requiring them think about what there interests are and whats going on in the world.