Oh, no: Netflix to test TikTok-style video feed

I come to you bearing horrible news: Netflix is coming for your short-form content-trained brain.

Netflix unveiled a whole host of changes coming to its platform in a blog post on May 7, and among them is "a new way to discover," aka a vertical video feed much like TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts. One more place to doomscroll.

"In the coming weeks, we’ll be testing a vertical feed filled with clips of Netflix shows and movies to make discovery easy and fun. You'll be able to tap to watch the whole show or movie immediately, add it to My List, or share with friends," Netflix said in its blog post. The vertical video change is only affecting the mobile version of the Netflix app.

Of course, it'll be interesting to see how this actually works. Most — if not all — of the content available on Netflix is shot horizontally, which isn't ideal for vertical viewing. But this isn't a particularly surprising move from Netflix. Short-form video content is king, and people are already watching whole movies on their TikTok For You Page. And, as TechCrunch points out, this comes at a time in which competition among platforms for viewer attention is at an all-time high, with audiences looking for quick entertainment over long-form viewing.

Put simply: Our attention spans are short, and Netflix is trying to keep up.

Another preview of the vertical video feed from Netflix. Credit: Netflix

"We know that swiping through a vertical feed on social media apps is an easy way to browse video content," Chief Product Officer Eunice Kim said in a press briefing, according to The Verge. "And we also know that our members love to browse our clips and trailers to find their next obsession."

Not all users are sold on the change. The preview image of the new vertical feed nods to the Netflix series Nobody Wants This, which feels a bit literal. In a Reddit thread about the move, one user posted sarcastically: "LETS GOOOOO AI AND TIKTOK. Movies as TikTok feeds, chat gpt, grok, maybe we can get some bitcoin in there too?" Another user said, "Enshittification comes for us all." "why does everything keep getting worse," another user commented.

Netflix also announced that it is going to redesign its entire homepage, bring generative AI to search and discovery, and update its recommendations.