‘We Pay to Buy Ourselves’: Netflix, Spectators & Streaming

This article explains how Netflix has transformed the ways in which we interact with media in the contemporary milieu. I argue that Netflix works through a process of planned differentiation, designing unique customization experiences to create a new type of media user that participates in its globa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of communication inquiry Vol. 47; no. 2; pp. 126 - 144
Main Author Rodríguez Ortega, Vicente
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.04.2023
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Customization
Spectators
Netflix
spectators
video-on-demand
streaming services
planned differentiation
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Summary:This article explains how Netflix has transformed the ways in which we interact with media in the contemporary milieu. I argue that Netflix works through a process of planned differentiation, designing unique customization experiences to create a new type of media user that participates in its global and regional release and production strategies. This leads me into a discussion of how the Netflix interface manages the spectators’ experience through a series of connected features. Thus, I detail Netflix’ personalization mechanisms, proposing that, ultimately, its users ‘pay to buy themselves’, or the version of themselves its interface offers back to users upon systematically gathering data on their habits. Finally, I remark that the key characteristics of the current streaming service/spectator relationship are deceptive limitlessness, customization, the automation of content flow and ubiquity, weaving a form of audiovisual engagement that has partially and, at times completely, conquered our everyday.
ISSN:0196-8599
1552-4612
DOI:10.1177/01968599211072446