To Online Movie Watchers Who Want a Better Movie Selection Experience
Selecting a movie to watch would be a more pleasant experience, if streaming entertainment service companies organized their offerings like automobile manufactures.
Automobile Manufacturers
Mercedes Benz, like other automobile manufactures, have successfully set up websites that facilitate the purchase of their vehicles. Their websites are orderly. Special offers are presented to (potential) buyers upfront; however, vehicles are strictly classified based on passenger capacity, cargo volume, and use.
Categories include:
- Electric Vehicles (EVs)
- Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs)
- Sedans / Wagons
- Convertibles
- Roadsters
- Coupes
Selection
Only after a shopper selects the vehicle and model can s/he select a vehicle’s features and aesthetics.
Streaming Entertainment Service Companies
Streaming entertainment service companies like Netflix, on the other hand, takes the opposite approach. They present a list of major categories enmeshed with a list of pseudo categories that are actually based on aesthetics.
Listings, this week, included:
- ‘Now Trending’
- ‘feel-good films’
- ‘Horror Movies’,
- ‘Drug lords, Mob Bosses, and Gangsters’
- ‘Real Talk’
- ‘Tagalog Movies’
- ‘Strong Black lead’
- ‘Strong Female lead’
Questionable Logic
On the surface, the list of categories looks okay. Upon closer examination, though, one has to ask: Why present a list of aesthetics entwined with genres?
Could you imagine a car dealer selling cars based on its tire size? Or, imagine them selling the car based on its color? I’m sure they would present the most expensive blue care first.
Why not present the primary genres first – action, comedy, crime, horror, romance, war, sci-fi, musical, and melodrama. That way, viewers can match the genre to their mood. Then, allow customers to further refine their selection by choosing the setting (e.g., UK, India, etc.), period, language, or (actor) race.
Making Sense of the Disorder
Are streaming entertainment service companies struggling to figure out the best way to help viewers search for films they want to see? Or, are the pseudo categories designed to push specific movies and shows? What do you think?
