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But what if I want a faster horse?

(rakhim.exotext.com)
1525 points saeedesmaili | 3 comments | 11 Apr 25 11:39 UTC | HN request time: 0.625s | source
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furyg3 ◴[11 Apr 25 12:19 UTC] No.43652977[source]▶
The TikTok-ification of advertising supported platforms is terrible, but makes sense to me. LinkedIn pivoted from making money on subscriptions and fees for job postings to ads, which mean the leading drivers are 'engagement' e.g. time you spend doom scrolling on their platform. This will end in disaster for the platform as a place to find jobs or employees.

Netflix I understand much less. They make money from subscriptions. If you perceive having a fantastic experience on the site by just going there, finding something you enjoy watching, and leaving... they win. Why they would foster a doom-scrolling experience I really can't really explain, other than imagining some dark pattern like they have to pay per view and want you to watch C grade movies? More time spent looking for something to watch means less time streaming?

I don't get it.

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1. chii ◴[11 Apr 25 12:22 UTC] No.43652997[source]▶
> More time spent looking for something to watch means less time viewing?

or, if you're presented with more random 'clips' or movie snippets, this turns on your gambling reward center. It's like a slot machine - where you "win" by finding a good series to watch after searching. And because this is random, you end up getting addicted to looking thru the list/snippet, trying to encounter a perfect series to watch.

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2. demaga ◴[11 Apr 25 13:47 UTC] No.43653743[source]▶
But this doesn't explain what the incentive for Netflix is if you pay for subscription regardless.
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3. munificent ◴[11 Apr 25 14:51 UTC] No.43654449[source]▶
It's about two things:

1. Cutting costs on the other side.

Studios don't want to license content to Netflix now that they are direct competitors, so Netflix has fewer and fewer movies and shows that they didn't produce themselves. And they want to spend as little as possible on producing their own content.

That way they make as much profit from the subscriptions as they can.

2. Reducing the value of competitors.

They are competing for user time. They want you to spend as many minutes as possible on Netflix because any minute not spent their is a minute you might be spending on Hulu or Apple TV. At the end of the month when you decide that you can't afford that many streaming services and decide to cut one, you'll pick based on which one you use the most. They don't want that to be the other guy.