Netflix filters
May 27, 2012 7:44 AM Subscribe
Is there a process for submitting feature requests/ideas to netflix?
I'm a new subscriber to netflix (streaming only), and I'll own that newbiness. But they recommend a TON of movies to me that I've already seen. I would love a "I'VE SEEN IT" filter to their suggested movies so the menus don't get clogged with movies I don't give two shakes about.
Also, I would like a listing of movies sorted by newness, but I'm not sure they'd do this, as it would lead to people slamming them with requests for just the new movies. I'm sure they get slammed with this already when a new movie is posted, and have to deal with delivery issues.
I'm a new subscriber to netflix (streaming only), and I'll own that newbiness. But they recommend a TON of movies to me that I've already seen. I would love a "I'VE SEEN IT" filter to their suggested movies so the menus don't get clogged with movies I don't give two shakes about.
Also, I would like a listing of movies sorted by newness, but I'm not sure they'd do this, as it would lead to people slamming them with requests for just the new movies. I'm sure they get slammed with this already when a new movie is posted, and have to deal with delivery issues.
Response by poster: If 'seen it' gets rid of the ones I've seen, then I'm going to 'seen it' the crap out of it. Ha!
Yes, when added to netflix. Not by the movie's release date. They do a 'new releases' thing, but it appears to be in no order.
Again, I will own to being a new user who is asking for stuff right away. I'm willing to shut my trap if this 'new releases' is what I'm looking for and I don't know it. Just keepin' it humble.
posted by CarlRossi at 8:17 AM on May 27, 2012
Yes, when added to netflix. Not by the movie's release date. They do a 'new releases' thing, but it appears to be in no order.
Again, I will own to being a new user who is asking for stuff right away. I'm willing to shut my trap if this 'new releases' is what I'm looking for and I don't know it. Just keepin' it humble.
posted by CarlRossi at 8:17 AM on May 27, 2012
Maybe it's just Canadian Netflix (which only does streaming) but I swear that just after you sign up you get asked about a whole bunch of movies, if youve seen it, how would you rate it, etc. This allows them to know your preferences as well. Furthermore, I know at some point I've seen a section called 'Watch it Again' that presented me with the top movies I'd seen and rated.
That all being said, it could be a Canadian thing, or it could be a feature they've axed. But it definitely did exist at some point.
posted by cgg at 8:33 AM on May 27, 2012
That all being said, it could be a Canadian thing, or it could be a feature they've axed. But it definitely did exist at some point.
posted by cgg at 8:33 AM on May 27, 2012
Not quite answering your question, but you should check if some of the features you're seeking are available at InstantWatcher or ABetterQueue.
posted by oliverburkeman at 8:42 AM on May 27, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by oliverburkeman at 8:42 AM on May 27, 2012 [2 favorites]
New Releases
If you don't want to go through the hassle of rating every single movie you've seen, click "Not Interested" and Netflix will stop suggesting it. Be warned - this affects your recommendations (as far as I know your choices are "give it a star" or essentially "give it no stars because you didn't see it but KNOW you don't want to" and both are used to determine what to show you - it stopped suggesting Saw movies after I hit "Not Interested" on just one of them, for instance.)
posted by SMPA at 8:43 AM on May 27, 2012
If you don't want to go through the hassle of rating every single movie you've seen, click "Not Interested" and Netflix will stop suggesting it. Be warned - this affects your recommendations (as far as I know your choices are "give it a star" or essentially "give it no stars because you didn't see it but KNOW you don't want to" and both are used to determine what to show you - it stopped suggesting Saw movies after I hit "Not Interested" on just one of them, for instance.)
posted by SMPA at 8:43 AM on May 27, 2012
I find my (US) version of Netflix streaming is pretty good about keeping stuff I've already rated in the "Watch it again" section. Going through and rating a lot of stuff I had already seen was a pain, but I kind of enjoyed it (and added stuff I really did want to see again to my queue). It also means Netflix is better able to filter its suggestions, so I get offered things like "Gritty Sci-Fi Dramas With Strong Female Leads" and "Violent Crime Movies from the 80s" and such, and it doesn't continue to offer me titles I already marked with "Not interested".
posted by shamash at 8:44 AM on May 27, 2012
posted by shamash at 8:44 AM on May 27, 2012
Best answer: So many things get added to Netflix that it'd be really hard to get a sorted list of exactly when they get added; I use "Recently Added" if I really want to know - but it's using your recommendations there already, and that's the order it's putting them in, for the most part. And it does it in clumps of time, not just "this week" but more like "in the last little while."
posted by SMPA at 8:45 AM on May 27, 2012
posted by SMPA at 8:45 AM on May 27, 2012
Response by poster: All great answers, thank you.
I've marked the last answer as answered, so this might close. Thanks, everyone!
posted by CarlRossi at 9:18 AM on May 27, 2012
I've marked the last answer as answered, so this might close. Thanks, everyone!
posted by CarlRossi at 9:18 AM on May 27, 2012
Best answer: To answer the original question in a general sense, this is how ideas make it into software products:
First an engineer or product manager needs to know about the idea. It's possible that this idea comes throuh customer support or a user accessible support forum, but it doesn't actually happen that often. More often, the idea comes from management or the product team themselves.
Then someone has to decide that the idea is actually worth doing, is feasible, doesn't conflict with other features, fits into the product, etc. Most ideas don't make it through this screening.
Then the idea needs to get scheduled, which might end up being three or four releases from now, because the schedule until then is already full, and even this good idea might be for something fairly small.
Then the feature needs to be built and tested, and importantly, needs to be re-tested with each subsequent release, to make sure no new changes have broken it. This overhead right here stops a lot of things from making it into products on its own.
And even if you can get your idea in front of someone who can do something about it, chances are that they've seen it before and have either decided not to do it for one reason or another (the reasoning for which might be really esoteric or technical: I.e., "we can't add a 'seen it' column to the database schema because Xbox clients earlier than version 1.2 will break if they get results that don't match the built-in spec"), or have already scheduled it to do at a future date when they have time.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 10:32 AM on May 27, 2012
First an engineer or product manager needs to know about the idea. It's possible that this idea comes throuh customer support or a user accessible support forum, but it doesn't actually happen that often. More often, the idea comes from management or the product team themselves.
Then someone has to decide that the idea is actually worth doing, is feasible, doesn't conflict with other features, fits into the product, etc. Most ideas don't make it through this screening.
Then the idea needs to get scheduled, which might end up being three or four releases from now, because the schedule until then is already full, and even this good idea might be for something fairly small.
Then the feature needs to be built and tested, and importantly, needs to be re-tested with each subsequent release, to make sure no new changes have broken it. This overhead right here stops a lot of things from making it into products on its own.
And even if you can get your idea in front of someone who can do something about it, chances are that they've seen it before and have either decided not to do it for one reason or another (the reasoning for which might be really esoteric or technical: I.e., "we can't add a 'seen it' column to the database schema because Xbox clients earlier than version 1.2 will break if they get results that don't match the built-in spec"), or have already scheduled it to do at a future date when they have time.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 10:32 AM on May 27, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
Are you looking for a list of movies that is sorted by when they were added to Netflix or by their release date?
posted by phil at 8:03 AM on May 27, 2012 [1 favorite]