Two Thumbs Up: Netflix Adds Third Option to Thumbs Up and Down Rating System

Netflix is updating its scores system — it is obtained two thumbs now. On Monday, the world's greatest subscription-based video streaming service introduced it should supply a 3rd thumbs-based possibility for you to present your opinions on what you are watching. In addition to Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down, Netflix members can vote for a title with “Two Thumbs Up”. Think of it as a manner to signify larger satisfaction. If a Thumbs Up is akin to liking one thing, Two Thumbs Up conveys you love it. Netflix is rolling out the brand new score metric from in the present day, and it will likely be obtainable subsequent to the Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down buttons on Netflix apps for TV, Android, iPhone, and on Netflix.com on the Web.

Why Netflix is introducing Two Thumbs Up

“We've heard from members that it's very important for them to distinguish between just liked titles from titles that they really loved. And so, we've built this feature, tested it, and we're rolling it out [now] globally,” Netflix's director of product innovation Christine Doig-Cardet informed Gadgets 360 final week. In a weblog submit Monday, she added: “Consider Two Thumbs Up as a way to fine-tune your recommendations. A Thumbs Up still lets us know what you liked, so we use this response to make similar recommendations. But a Two Thumbs Up tells us what you loved and helps us get even more specific with your recommendations.”

For occasion, in case you beloved the recently-released Abhishek Bachchan-starrer Dasvi or the Madhuri Dixit Nene-led The Fame Game — I would love to personally hear from you, by the best way — then Netflix will give more weight to different films and series that embody its forged members. Or those who come from its makers, akin to Karan Johar's Dharmatic that produced the latter. This applies to each title on Netflix. If you liked Bridgerton's second season that dropped on Netflix in late March, you is perhaps handled to more exhibits or movies starring the forged — or these from the house of its producer Shondaland.

What's the worth of Two Thumbs Up although? Is it double that of Thumbs Up? That would make sense in spite of everything. Doig-Cardet informed me that there is not any “predetermined weight”, however moderately, it is simply “another input that goes into our personalisation. It takes into account like what you've watched, what you've liked, what you disliked, and the Two Thumbs Up is just another input. It knows that that's going to be a stronger signal than just liking, but there's no predetermined weight.”

And why Netflix is shifting away from its binary system

Two Thumbs Up is the primary large change to Netflix's score system in half a decade. Almost 5 years to the day, Netflix deserted its star score system — it allowed you to price titles on a scale of 1 to 5 stars — in favour of a binary one: thumbs up or down. At the time, Netflix stated it might take away friction and simplify the entire course of. Now, Netflix is complicating it a bit with Two Thumbs Up, because it brings again some stage of gradation. Why is Netflix going in opposition to itself? Did it realise that the binary system was too simplified?

“What we heard directly from our members is that they were longing to have a wider spectrum of emotions to convey about a title,” Netflix's director of personalization design Ratna Desai informed Gadgets 360. “And obviously, that nuance of taste is very valuable to have a dialogue around, because it can improve recommendations in a new way. What we have here is another way to understand our members' tastes and their evolving tastes. The binary system was definitely something that members engaged with, but was limiting. Now, we're finding that there are new ways to look at our relationship with members.”

Where to discover Two Thumbs Up on the Netflix iPhone app
Photo Credit: Netflix

But wait, what about my already-rated titles?

Naturally, you may return and change scores for films and series that you just rated up to now. Netflix hinted that it would even make it simpler for customers to do that by the use of a brand new consumer interface, although Desai and Doig-Cardet stopped wanting revealing any specifics. They did notice how positively Two Thumbs Up has been acquired throughout testing.

“We've been testing this feature for a few months, and actually, we've been surprised how much they've engaged with already-watched titles to update that input, now that they know that they have that option,” Doig-Cardet stated. “So we're not too concerned, because there's a very high usage of the feature, not just like for newly-launched titles, but also those that people have already watched and rated in the past.”

“That goes to the point that there's a willingness to fine tune their tastes, and there's an eagerness with some subset of members to do this,” Desai added. “The fact that they're going to the extent of going back in time and re-reviewing these titles shows us that there's kind of like this longing and motivation for an unmet need.”

Can I get a Two Thumbs Down?

Now that Netflix has deserted the binary system and expanded its thumbs-based method, does this open the potential for a “Two Thumbs Down” possibility? Doig-Cardet threw it again to the customers and informed Gadgets 360: “Yeah, if numbers indicate that that's something that they desire. Right now, we don't have that type of indication. Members tend to want to give more feedback on the positive side than the negative.”

Clearly, nobody is listening to me. insert unhappy smiley face right here