The Gist
- Netflix’s ‘Moments’ feature. A tool that allows users to clip and share parts of shows they’re watching.
- Expanding social engagement. A new job listing suggests Netflix is looking to enhance content-sharing features.
- Potential strategic shift. Experts speculate Netflix could integrate more social elements to drive engagement and brand loyalty.
Last fall, Netflix released “Moments,” a new feature that lets users clip and share parts of shows they’re watching via links that point back to Netflix. Now, the company is considering expanding that effort — perhaps with more prominent billing in the product itself — according to a new job listing.
“Netflix recently launched moments, a way to save your favorite media and share with others, and it’s just the start!” Netflix product director Becks Wood wrote in a LinkedIn post about the role. “How might we help people connect to their favorite media, and connect to one another with media at the center of the experience?”
The job listing calls for a product manager who will “build products that help members create and share content in engaging ways off-and-on Netflix. This, in turn, creates a virtuous cycle of members returning to Netflix and builds increased brand love.”
The job will pay between $240,000 and $725,000.
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Netflix’s Social Experiment: A New Engagement Strategy?
For a company that’s said its competitor is sleep, Netflix hasn’t built much for people to share what they’re watching within its product, a potential hook into shows and movies. Now, it seems, it may be ready to enlist its members to spread the word about content they like as a way to create more engagement.
“Netflix has struggled with what social should be,” Rich Greenfield, general partner at LightShed Ventures, told me. “They’ve done an incredible job of creating viral moments across Instagram or TikTok. Maybe this is them thinking how to drive more word of mouth from members to their social networks.”
Netflix declined to comment, and the job listing doesn’t mean the company will do anything concrete.
Speculation and Potential Directions for ‘Moments’
But Greenfield imagined the company might create a section displaying its users’ top clips from shows, or something of that nature. “Netflix is always playing with autoplay video cover art,” he said. “Is there a way to engage people in shows based on the most clipped Moments?”
Netflix, of course, could have some interesting opportunities if it takes this a step further and hosts user generated content on its platform. The company’s shows are catalysts for one of the web’s most powerful forces: fandoms. These fandoms generate content that’s created riches for social media companies, and that’s value Netflix could one day internalize.
Whether Netflix will eventually go that route is a matter of speculation, but the company has previously cast aside its fundamentals in service of growth. Famously, Netflix executive chairman Reed Hastings said the company wouldn’t get into advertising, before it reversed course. “We want to be the safe respite where you can explore, you can get stimulated, have fun and enjoy – and have none of the controversy around exploiting users with advertising,” Hastings said in early 2020. Now, 50% of new Netflix signups are for its ad tier in countries that it’s available.
After Netflix turned on advertising and cracked down on password sharing, the company’s enjoyed immense growth, surpassing 300 million subscribers last year with $39 billion in revenue. Should the effectiveness of these tactics wear off, the company might seek out new growth avenues. In the meantime, look out for more Moments.
Core Questions About Netflix’s Social Strategy
Editor’s note: Key questions surrounding Netflix’s evolving approach to user engagement, social sharing and potential monetization opportunities.
How will Netflix expand its ‘Moments’ feature?
The new job listing hints at deeper integration of ‘Moments’ within the Netflix platform. Will this feature gain a more prominent role in the user experience?
What role does social engagement play in Netflix’s future?
For years, Netflix has focused on content delivery over social interaction. Could the push toward user-generated content and sharing signal a strategic shift?
Could Netflix create a social ecosystem around its content?
With fandoms driving engagement across platforms like TikTok and Instagram, will Netflix attempt to internalize this activity by fostering its own social features?
Will Netflix explore monetization of user-generated content?
Social media giants profit from fan-created content. If Netflix integrates social sharing at scale, could it introduce monetization models for creators?
How does this initiative fit into Netflix’s broader growth strategy?
After cracking down on password sharing and launching an ad tier, Netflix’s subscriber growth surged. If these strategies plateau, could social engagement be the next major growth lever?
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