Netflix has announced integration with Facebook that will now make it possible to get social recommendations of what you should watch next.
At long last you can see what your Facebook friends are watching on Netflix, and, in turn, you can share with them what you have enjoyed from the streaming service. Once you've connected the accounts the information from your friends will be shown in social rows of recommendations and is restricted only to the items that they have rated four or five stars.
Netflix has done some very smart things with this integration to make sure you have as much control as possible. For instance, the information will only appear in Netflix and not on Facebook unless you specifically tell it to do so. Additionally this isn't an all-or-nothing scenario as you can choose to hide your guilty pleasure programming from the process, and even go back and make sure to do the same with items you have watched and rated before this was integrated. Feel free to keep watching the complete run of Basketball Wives while only sharing your love of Fellini films.
For now this is only an integration with Facebook, but one has to imagine we'll see additional services down the road.
Netflix Makes Finding TV Shows and Movies Easier With Friends
Facebook Integration Adds Social Dimension For U.S. Netflix Members
LOS GATOS, Calif., March 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) today introduced new social features that make it easier and more fun to find TV shows and movies to watch and discuss with friends.
Starting today, Netflix streaming members in the U.S. can link their Netflix account to Facebook. The new Netflix/Facebook integration lets Netflix members see what their friends have watched by adding new "Friends' Favorites" and "Watched by your friends" rows to Netflix. Members also automatically share what they watch only within Netflix and can optionally share what they've watched to Facebook. All U.S. Netflix members will have access to the social features by the end of this week.
"There are few better ways to find a movie or TV series you'll love than hearing about it from your friends," said Tom Willerer, vice president of product innovation at Netflix. "Facebook already makes it easy for our international members to connect with friends over TV shows and movies and we're thrilled to now bring this experience to our U.S. members."
Netflix members will see an option in Netflix to connect to Facebook and agree to share their activity. After doing so, rows with titles watched by friends will display on any device that streams from Netflix, provided these friends are also connected. By default, members share what they watched only on Netflix. Members can opt to also share to Facebook by changing their Netflix "Social Settings" on Netflix.com. The Facebook connection can be disabled at any time, giving members robust control over how and when they share.
The Netflix social features will evolve with new capabilities being tested regularly. Upcoming tests include capabilities to allow members to explicitly share their favorite titles on Facebook and discuss with their friends.
"People naturally talk about TV shows and movies and love to share their experiences," said Willerer. "Through the Netflix/Facebook integration we want to let Netflix members express themselves on Facebook and provide a digital version of the proverbial water cooler."
"Over the years, Netflix has deepened its Facebook integration to enable people to discover movies through friends and to share what they're watching," said Facebook Director of Platform Partnerships and Operations Justin Osofsky. "With their integration, Netflix has a new opportunity to reach the more than one billion people on Facebook. We look forward to Netflix continuing to integrate with Facebook and offering their community rich ways to discover movies and TV shows with their friends."
Netflix has offered social features to its international members for more than a year. The introduction of Facebook integration in the U.S. became possible when Congress updated a video sharing law earlier this year.
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