Netflix is coming to Facebook in a really social way. At Facebook’s F8 developer conference today, Mark Zuckerberg previewed how Facebook members will be able to see what movies or TV shows their friends have been watching on Netflix and click on the movie to watch it right there in Facebook. An overlay player pops up, and you can watch the movie without even leaving Facebook.
Netflix CEO and Facebook board member Reed Hastings spoke as well, and compared the experiencing of discovering new TV shows and movies on Facebook to Netflix’s own recommendation algorithm. “My friend did trumps the algorithm ,” says Hastings. If you’ve ever clicked on a YouTube video because you saw it in your Facebook News feed, you can imagine how you might click on a Netflix video as well (if you have the time to watch a longer video). But if you live in the U.S., you will have to imagine it because a privacy law in the U.S related video viewing data prevents Netflix from turning the app on in the U.S. It will, however, be available immediately in 44 other countries. Hastings noted that the law, the Video Privacy Protection Act passed in 1988, is in the process of being reviewed and might be overturned in the U.S..
Viewing data raises all sorts of privacy concerns. But if Facebook manages the privacy issues correctly, and lets you share only the viewing habits you want to share, this kind of social TV could create an entirely new way to find shows and movies to watch. Already it is becoming common for people to broadcast what they are watching through various apps. Now on Facebook when you see those status updates you should be able to watch as well. If only the laws in the U.S. permitted it.
The potential is certainly there. Hastings shared an anecdote in which he asked Zuckerberg to define success for social TV. Zuckerberg shot back, “How big are you going to grow next year?” Hastings told him a number. Success, Zuckerberg told him, is if Netflix grows twice as much as it is expecting (presumably in terms of videos streamed). If Netflix can launch its video sharing app on Facebook in the U.S., it might just get there.
Netflix is the world’s leading Internet television network with more than 33 million members in 40 countries enjoying more than one billion hours of TV shows and movies per month, including Netflix original series. For one low monthly price, Netflix members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on nearly any Internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments. Learn more about how Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) is pioneering Internet television at...
Facebook is the world’s largest social network, with over 1 billion monthly active users. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004, initially as an exclusive network for Harvard students. It was a huge hit: in 2 weeks, half of the schools in the Boston area began demanding a Facebook network. Zuckerberg immediately recruited his friends Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Eduardo Saverin to help build Facebook, and within four months, Facebook added 30 more college networks. The original...
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