Netflix is ​​quietly removing this feature, will you miss it?

in the section “How to use Surprise Me to randomly watch titles” From the Netflix Help Center, the feature “Not available since January 2023”. That’s why the SVOD platform removed this option a few weeks ago, which was launched under its name in April 2021. “Open a thread”.

According to a Netflix spokesperson quoted by wall street diaryThe American firm felt that the functionality was not used enough by its subscribers to justify its existence, and it was very bad for those who used it so far. “We will continue to explore other ways to give members more choice and ways to explore and discover the content they want to watch”Added on-demand video streaming service.

Netflix will no longer surprise you

Rich Greenfield, LightShed Partners analyst, “Netflix tries a lot of things, iterates fast and kills things that don’t work”. Therefore, it is not surprising that the function is. Surprise me After about two years, it was shelved without being able to impose it on the audience, who prefer to choose the content they want to watch.

When this feature became available, Cameron Johnson, director of product innovation at Netflix, was selling what he called it at the time. start a thread : “We are not always in the mood to make decisions. Whether it’s a Friday night after a long week, a time when our fridge is full but we don’t know what to eat, or even a family movie night that no one can get enough of. It’s happened to all of us. Sometimes we just want one thing: to sit comfortably in front of Netflix and get immersed. That’s why we created the “Start thread” feature, which is a simple and practical feature for discovering new programs..

The option didn’t offer a completely random TV show or movie, it was based on what you’ve watched before. It can also launch content that has been started but not finished, or a TV show or movie from your favorites list. So, are you one of the subscribers? Surprise me will you miss?

Source : The Wall Street Gazette