The Netflix Experience Re-shaping the Creative Process: Cultural Co-Production of Content A user-focus approach to recommendation algorithms. Author: Daniela Renee Varela Martínez Supervisor: Anne Kaun Södertörns högskola | Department of Media and Communication Studies Thesis Project for Master in Media Communication and Cultural Analysis | 30 credits. Final Research | May 2017 For Mamá & Papá, For encouraging me to be the creator of my own life. 2 Abstract. This project proposes a user-focused approach to study the algorithm logic of on-demand apps, using Netflix as a case study. The main research interest is the perception that the user has about the suggestion and recommendation logic of Netflix. In order to gather the information, a walkthrough method on Netflix was applied as well as personal, in-depth think aloud interviews were carried out. The sample consisted on a selection of heavy users, millennials ex-pats living in Singapore and working in the creative industry to get specific insights on their relationship with the algorithm. To analyze the gathered material, qualitative content analysis was carried out. This kind of study is important within today’s contemporary media environment to have integral approach to users perceptions instead of just analytical figures and numbers. The theoretical context used to enlight some of the conclusions discussed on this research were based on the study of media in everyday life, global cultural industry studies, as well as algorithm culture and the science and technology studies. How algorithms are perceived have major repercussions not only on on- demand apps, technology business models or entertainment industry but also an intense influence on the way people consume content. Re-thinking the user as a co-producer of information and knowledge, considering some of the implications this phenomenon might have on the creative industry and how that affects on our daily life are some of the issues this research elaborated on. It can be said that the selected sample appreciates the suggestion logics and it has multiple functionalities: recommendation, curation, entertainment, companionship and leisure. Netflix Originals are very well validated; being one of the main attractions of the app. Interface, functionality and features are also items that the sample positively highlights. The accuracy perception of the algorithm is good, although low when compared to other countries where the sample used the app. The same applies to the amount of content and titles available, being these last two, issues that Netflix could improve. This research was conducted for 8 months, from October 2016 to May 2017, for Sodertorn University – Stockholm, Sweden, with the guidance and support of Associate Professor Anne Kaun. Keywords: Netflix, On-Demand, Apps, Algorithms, ANT, Global Cultural Industry, Media and Everyday Life, User Experience, Content, Entertainment, User, Walkthrough Method, Think Aloud Method, Content Analysis. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………..6 2.Theoretical context, objective & research questions.………………………………………7 2.1 Previous Research….……………………………………………………………………………..7 2.2 Objective Limitations of the Study ………………………………………………………..9 2.3 Research Main and Support Questions …………………………………………………9 2.4 Limitations of the Study……………………………………………………………………….10 2.5.Theoretical Context……………………………………………………………………………..11 2.5.1 Current Media Landscape: media in everyday life & global cultural industry …………………………………………………………………..11 2.5.2 Algorithm Culture & Science and Technology Studies ………………..14 3. Material and Methods…………………………………………………………………………………..20 3.1 Field of Study: Netflix - Towards a definition and description……………….20 3.2 Sample Definition ………………………………………………………………………………..24 3.3 What to watch next: a methodological brief introduction ……………………26 3.4 The research process: gathering information……………………………………….26 3.4.1 Think aloud interviews………………………………………………………26 3.4.2 The walkthrough method …………………………………………………27 3.5 The research process: analyzing information………………………………………..30 3.5.1. Qualitative content analysis.…………………………………………….30 3.5.2. Categories……………………………….……………………………………….31 3.6 Limitations of the methods………………………………..……………..…………………..32 4. Analysis and Results ………………………………………………………….………………………….33 4.1 Offline Behavior - Netflix experience: where, when with whom…………..33 4.1.1 Time …………………………………………………………………………………34 4.1.2 Companion……………………………………………………………………….35 4.1.3 Location …………………………………………………………………..………36 4.2 Online Behavior - Netflix’s UX and interface analysis ………………………....38 4.2.1 Devices ……………………………………………………………………………,44 4.2.2 Accounts & Profiles ………………………………………………………….46 4.2.3 Recommendations …………………………………………………………..49 4.3 Press Play - Algorithm perception & user experiences’ highlights………..54 4.3.1 Functionality…………………………………………………………………….54 4.3.2 Algorithm Perception……………………………………………………….58 4.3.3 Content…………………………………………………………………………….60 5. Conclusion & Final Discussion……………………………………………………………………….63 5.1 Users’ Perception ………………………………………………………………………………….64 5.2 Co-Creators of Content………………………………………………………………………....66 5.3 Reshaping the Creative Process: Cultural Co-Production of Knowledge...67 6. Bibliography & Electronic Sources………………………………………………………………..70 4 7. Appendix……………………………………………………………………………………………………73 7.1 Interviews questionnaire…………………………………………………………………..73 7.2 Interviewees profiles…………………………………………………………………………75 7.3 Interviews transcriptions…………………………………………………………………..77 7.4 Photographic supportive material……………………………………………………128 7.5 Table of results ……………………………………………………………………………….131 7.6 Netflix terms and conditions………………………………………………………… …135 5 1. Introduction If one watches Netflix’s acquired series Black Mirror one can certainly have a glimpse of today’s media landscape and people’s interaction -and why not, reaction- with media technology. From media gadgets and wearables to media itself, Black Mirror only dramatizes what has been happening during the past 15 years, when private and public sphere boundaries have been blurred due to the usage of media as an enhancer or disruptive factor, making changes in people´s behavior and decisions. Black Mirror is a British science fiction TV series that examines modern society, its interactions and unexpected consequences with new technologies. His very own creator, Charlie Brooker, explained it during its first premier on the original Channel 4 Network interview, before being bought by Netflix: “Over the last ten years, technology has transformed almost every aspect of our lives before we’ve had time to stop and question it. In every home, on every desk in every palm – a plasma screen, a monitor, a smartphone- a black mirror of our 21st century existence. Our grip on reality is shifting. We worship at the altars of Google and Apple. Facebook algorithms know us more intimately than our own parents. We have access to all the information in the world, but no brain space left to absorb anything longer than a 140-character tweet. Black Mirror taps into the collective unease about our modern world1” (Channel 4 Editorial, 2011). In Black Mirror, users’ choices are dramatized by chips, artificial intelligence and all sorts of devices. But today, the invisible threat that contributes to and allows these possibilities -that at a first glance seem endless- are mainly guided but certainly not ultimate defined by the magic of algorithms. Aside of the inherent attractiveness of its story line; it is highly probable that if one is reading this and has a Netflix account, one probably knows about Black Mirror. Being an original, it is one of its more pushed series so, not only it will be there on the first suggested choices to what to watch next, but also will have a video trailer playing as soon as you open the app. It is indeed an interesting paradox that Netflix, one of those international companies that currently is shaping not only the content but mainly the way people consume entertainment worldwide, is actually producing and distributing a series that is a dramatic critique of that algorithmic personalization process. 1 Charlie Brooker talks about Black Mirror, Channel4, (http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/charlie- brooker-talks-about-black-mirror) 20/09/2011 searched on 14/01/2017 6 This project has, as Black Mirror, also considered the nature of today’s media landscape as a field of study, particularly Netflix, its algorithmic system and its on demand logic. How is the algorithm -and the personalization possibilities it allows- being perceived by users? In other words, how does the Netflix’s user experience the suggestion logic of Netflix? These kinds of research questions have major relevance for today’s media landscape. Considering a user-focused approach, this research reformulates its problem and stirs the direction towards the user; towards the human experience rather than the engineering of algorithms. This is a way to “re-humanize” the algorithm culture, specifically in Netflix’s case. This contributes to different perspectives on the field where hardware, media techniques and technologies have become so spectacular and powerful that sometimes it is easy to forget that people are behind and in front of them. There is a long tradition of audiences’ studies, with Raymond Williams as an iconic figure, but this time around, the digital landscape invites the researcher to think of a different approach. No longer the audience will be just a receptor but a generator of content. As Edward Finn