
Dear Netflix: You're doing it wrong - lylemckeany
http://www.lylemckeany.com/2012/09/30/dear-netflix-youre-doing-it-wrong/
======
macchina
Apparently Netflix has implemented this feature outside the US.

Also, it appears the law currently prevents Netflix from integrating the
Facebook button as it requires "informed written consent of the consumer given
at the time the disclosure is sought."

The bill would change this to "informed, written consent (including through an
electronic means using the Internet) in a form distinct and separate from any
form setting forth other legal or financial obligations of the consumer given
at one or both of the following times; (i) the time the disclosure is sought;
and (ii) in advance for a set period of time or until consent is withdrawn by
such consumer."

I think people ought to be able to make these choices for themselves. I
realize some people will forget to disable the feature, enable it
inadvertently, not understand it, etc. But how is this fundamentally different
from Spotify or Last.fm integration?

~~~
lylemckeany
It sounds like the only reason Netflix isn't allowed to do FB integration is
simply because it involves movies.

~~~
law
That's exactly the reason. It's from the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988
(VPPA), which ``preserve[s] personal privacy with respect to the rental,
purchase, or delivery of video tapes or similar audio visual materials.''[1]
It prohibits video tape service providers from knowingly disclosing their
consumers' personally identifiable information.

[1] Pub. L. 100-618, 120 Stat. 3195 (1988) (codified at 18 U.S.C. §2710
(2006)).

------
leecGoimik7
Dear author of the blog post: you are wrong. Watching is a deeply personal
experience and sharing it is the last thing I think about when I go to
Netflix. And most people on Facebook/whatever social network are not really
your friends. And there is no shortage of ways to communicate with _real_
friends should I want to discuss a movie with them. So let Netflix focus on
their core functionality instead of this social nonsense.

~~~
FaceKicker
I'm not sure you read past the first paragraph ... the author is on your side;
Netflix isn't.

~~~
leecGoimik7
I admit it was a bit difficult to focus after first paragraph which I
interpreted as the premise of the whole post and which I consider to be wrong.
I read again. No, author is not really on my side: he just says Netflix needs
to take a different approach. I say they need "no approach": focus on making
content available, more of it and in more ways, on more devices and platforms.
At least that's what I pay them for, not for sharing options.

------
jrajav
_Follows link, sees WP-SVBTLE theme_

Uh-oh. Ten bucks says half the comments are about the theme and everyone's
opinions of it, the blogger, and svbtle.

 _Comments_

Yessss.

------
TechNewb
Netflix should build their own social network, for the heck of it. I like
having different social networks for the various public spheres I participate
in, instead of trying to manage 'one social network' for all of the public
spheres I interact in.

~~~
jrwoodruff
Personally I would rather share my movie watching habits with a few close
friends (who are Netflix subscribers) than the 300+ acquaintances I have on
Facebook. I want to explore movies based on trusted sources, not share with
the world that I just watched season 3 episode 4 of Dallas Cowboys
Cheerleaders.

~~~
jeffool
I can't imagine it would be too hard to have a browser plug-in that asked you
to rate video after a viewing, and if you wanted to push your rating to social
networks. Pushing yes could prompt "Jeffool just gave 5 stars to <film>" with
a link to the video on Netflix.com, and no (or not connecting social media)
could just skip that step. Then it pops up suggestions or the next film in
your playlist, and you keep going.

/edit: Moreso, if everyone has a free Netflix account to rate films, then
they're already used to your site when you push for sign-ups.

------
lylemckeany
__Update regarding the Svbtle theme. __

I sent a tweet (<https://twitter.com/lylemckeany/status/253688832501874689>)
to Dustin early asking about it. He kindly asked me to change my theme and I
will in the next couple of days when I can get around to it. I thought/hoped
that the Gravity on Mars developer(s) had his permission to create it, but
that is definitely not the case.

------
kurtvarner
Off topic, but wow. Wordpress Svbtle? It's actually executed on quite well. I
was fooled before noticing the subtle (no pun intended) difference in the
Kudos icon shape. I do like the addition of comments, although it doesn't mesh
well with the design.

That said, I'm not a big fan of stealing someone's design pixel for pixel. It
definitely hurts the Svbtle brand when people mistake WP-Svbtle for Svbtle
itself. I wonder what Dustin Curtis thinks.

~~~
Smudge
I was fooled too until I saw the horribly-positioned Disqus section.
(Seriously, all it needs is a "padding" rule.)

I may not be much of a Svbtle fan, but I'm also not a fan of ripping-off a
brand's design just because you can.

~~~
lylemckeany
I'm not completely sold on the comment section even being on my blog at this
point. Comments don't always create the valuable and lively discussion that I
would like. I'll try out your padding rule idea later though. Thanks for the
feedback.

As far as the wp-svbtle theme goes, I like it for the simplicity. I won't deny
that it's a complete rip-off of Dustin's Svbtle. I pointed it out to him on
Twitter once and he only favorited my tweet. Maybe he will try to do something
about it at a later time, who knows.

~~~
Smudge
Perhaps he was simply acknowledging that imitation is the highest form of
flattery.

------
Smudge
Took me until I saw the Disqus comments at the bottom to realize this blog was
not on svbtle.com. The theme is here:

<http://github.com/gravityonmars/wp-svbtle>

From the github readme:

> _Isn't this unoriginal?_

> Yes, in the same way svbtle is unoriginal. See the original "inspiration"
> for svbtle. (link: <http://drawar.com/>)

At that, I raise an eyebrow. Yes, dcurtis' svbtle does look like it may have
been inspired by drawar, or any other blog theme with a persistent left-hand
column. It's certainly not nearly as original as it is simply well-executed.

But wp-svbtle copied the style & spacing of svbtle down to just about the
pixel-level. Legal or not, it's pretty blatantly ripping-off the brand dcurtis
is trying to establish, and that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

~~~
da_n
I have never really taken to the whole 'exclusive' Svbtle invite-only blogging
platform bullshit, but I do agree it is a pixel for pixel copy and so does
degrade the brand. No matter what my personal opinion of Svbtle is, copying
(and open sourcing the results) is not justified.

~~~
ImprovedSilence
meh, I think it's just a simple style. Yeah, so it's imitating some other blog
network, but really, I didn't even know Svbtle was a thing until a minute ago.
It's not exactly a super well recognized brand outside some small SF
circles...

~~~
TechNewb
Sounds like an analogy to the iPhone vs Android debate.

------
donretag
So people now rant about features that do not even exist yet? Seriously?

It is probably easier for Netflix to ask for authorization for all sharing and
then actually have users select what they want to share. No one knows until
they build it.

~~~
lylemckeany
I wouldn't say my post was supposed to be a rant, but a critique of their
approach to social media marketing instead. Seems to me that it would be
relatively easy to add social sharing buttons and it would pretty much
instantly increase their viral reach and subsequently grow their
subscriptions.

------
hayksaakian
At least they're trying. If Facebook sharing is such a legal clusterfuck
pushing more services through the gate at once won't help. I'm sure that if
they can get their foot in the door, they'll do everything that the OP
described.

------
kevhsu
A social feature they could adopt from G+ hangouts:

You can watch youtube videos while doing group video chat. Anyone on the chat
can pause, push a button to speak over the audio, etc. It' great for sharing
videos with people and having the "sitting next to you on the couch" feel
simulated.

For example, I could see myself using a Netflix version of this feature to
watch a few episodes of a TV show each week with someone if we'd started
watching the series in college while rooming together, but went our separate
ways without finishing the series.

------
RollAHardSix
This is a good post. Netflix will just become annoying if it posts on my
facebook all the time. Not that I'd let them post on my facebook but yea,
another discussion.

 _Cough_ Netflix you also need to work on navigation of xbox live with JUST
voice commands. I use the Kinect over a controller for a reason - it's faster.
But I'd like to be able to read the description of something before I watch
it, I'd also enjoy having the option of turning preview play off; it turns on
and my Kinect can't hear me!

------
nancyhua
Netflix did have a social network a few years ago. You could friend people and
talk about movies, etc. When it disappeared, I saw people complaining about it
but I assumed it was because Netflix was going to integrate Facebook or
something.

------
naner
_All Netflix needs to do is incorporate the ubiquitous social sharing buttons_

No! More social buttons is never the answer.

------
jtoeman
good post here - for anyone who agreed with Lyle and wants to try out my
startup's app which does the social sharing "right" (or so we think), try out
NextGuide (iPad only right now)

~~~
mzuvella
Hmmm, yeah you can opt out, just like every other Facebook integration.

