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In the summer of 2018, Netflix removed all user reviews and comments from their platform (Variety, 2018). This indicates a significant change in the way Netflix wants to illustrate to its user what content is best suited for them.

Recommendation Tool

More than 80% of the TV shows the people watch on Netflix, are discovered through their recommendation tool (Wired, 2017). It illustrates that the main driving force of engagement on the platform is based on this tool. Therefore it is no surprise that Netflix has put all their eggs in this basket. User reviews and comments don’t properly contribute to the recommendations that Netflix want and have therefore been removed.

Artificial Intelligence

The tool utilizes both Machine learning and algorithms in order to find out what shows you will like in the future (Wired, 2017). The tool wants to predict what kind of shows you like, based on your preferences. These preferences are based on nuanced threads in the content. This means that the predictions aren’t based on simple genres such as ‘horror’ or ‘action’ but focus more on the deeper themes that are part of a tv-show or movie.

Replacement of human expertise

What is noticeable here is that the entire recommendation process, a process that is vital for the engagement of Netflix, is completely done by an AI system. This exemplifies a trend that can be seen throughout several industries: Human expertise is replaced by complex systems. In this context, Netflix feels that their AI system is much more proficient in knowing what you like, than other humans or even yourself! It is a trend with the idea of: ‘Our algorithm is a lot smarter than you are, and it knows what you want.’

While this might seem like a novel and interesting concept, we have to be wary with letting complex algorithms take over our normal tasks. There are two reasons for this:

1. Who understands these algorithms? While these algorithms might prove to be very useful, they are often very complex and when we take decisions based on things we do not understand, we are onto a slippery slope.
2. Loss of human autonomy. We also have to consider that we do not simply outsource everything to complex systems. Mainly because complex does not necessarily mean better. On top of that, when removing these tasks from human workers, we’re losing the ability to perform these tasks.

 

Conclusion

Netflix aims to tell you what you think you like and while this could work very well, we have to be wary of letting complex systems think about what we like.

References:

Variety (2018).  Netflix has deleted all its user reviews from its website. Variety. Available at: https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/netflix-deletes-all-user-reviews-1202908904/

Wired (2017). This is how Netflix’s top-secret recommendation system works. Wired Magazine. Available at: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/how-do-netflixs-algorithms-work-machine-learning-helps-to-predict-what-viewers-will-like

 

4/5 (1)

Our modern world is filled with a continuous stream of information. We can find information about everything we need, want and could ever hope for in the back of our pocket. While this does give value to our daily lives, such  a vast amount of information could also lead to an information overload.

Social media

An example of this information overload is Social Media. In 2018, the average daily time spent on social media is above 2 hours (Statista, 2018). Therefore a significant amount of our time is spent on social media. However, research shows that such a connected environment actually induces stress and fatigue upon the user. Since users need to continuously pay attention to an overwhelming demand of social networking services, users obtain an information overload and are more prone to fatigue which could lead to psychological and physical strain (Lee, Son & Kim, 2016).

News

Another industry that is bombarded with information is the news industry. Technology has made the world more inter-connected and therefore we are shown a lot more news. A survey conducted by Gallup (2018) showed that 58 percents of the respondents argued that it was difficult for them to stay properly informed, even though they had access to news sources. The problem here is that an explosion of information creates a barrier in staying well informed. Furthermore, social media has drawn groups of individuals into a more confined space. This means that, on social media, every individual is shown certain content that reflects his/her own beliefs. This creates a cycle in which individuals are only confronted with news that they want to see, which most likely will validate their beliefs.  Finally, the term ‘fake news’ is one that has garnered notoriety in the recent few years. While individuals such as Donald Trump might make you think that ‘fake news’ is in fact fake news, there is no denying that it has become more easy to manipulate audiences and provide fake information to the public. For example, the Dutch government (n.d) has started a campaign called ‘Blijf Kritisch’ which translates to ‘remain critical’ in which they argue that you should be wary of information that you read and remain critical of everything.

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, the information age has been a blessing for human society. However, an overload of information cannot just be annoying, it can be harmful and dangerous for society. Therefore it is wise to sometimes take a step back and distantiate yourself from this ubiquitous information that surrounds us all.

References:

Gallup (2018). American Views: Trust, Media and Democracy. Knight Foundation. Available at: https://kf-site-production.s3.amazonaws.com/publications/pdfs/000/000/242/original/KnightFoundation_AmericansViews_Client_Report_010917_Final_Updated.pdf

Lee, A. R., Son, S. M., & Kim, K. K. (2016). Information and communication technology overload and social networking service fatigue: A stress perspective. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 51-61.

Rijksoverheid (n.d). Desinformatie en nepnieuws. Rijksoverheid. Available at: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/desinformatie-nepnieuws

Statista (2018). Daily social media usage worldwide. Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/433871/daily-social-media-usage-worldwide/