Netflix anger

A lot of people got angry when Netflix decided to crack down on password sharing. They complained and threatened to leave.

Did they? No. And I recently read an article on The Streaming Advisor about that very topic. It was an interesting read.

In the content business, which every publisher including The Streaming Advisor participates in, you have to put something out there. But it is obvious that the results of surveys do not predict the future well. Because you have to factor in human nature and our comfort level with routine. You also have to factor in what I call the water cooler effect. That when folks sit around the water cooler/break room/coffee machine and complain and make threats about things, they are just performing for their peers. I don’t know why they perform, but they do. I guess it makes them feel good about themselves at the moment. Sort of like the guy who says he would play football with a broken foot in response to a highly-paid NFL star missing action because of an injury. That same slob would not stand up to get the remote or another slice of pizza with a torn ACL, but would try to have you believe that he would make his body do the near impossible if given the chance.

My Streaming Life doesn't normally include Netflix, although I'm running a test right now involving it. But, if it did, I wouldn't have been impacted. I don't share passwords and don't use others' passwords. It's not what I do. And now it's not what others are doing either.