So, Netflix Wants to Be TikTok Now, Huh?
Look, I’ve been writing about this stuff for what feels like a thousand years, and I’ve seen a lot of shifts. But this one? This one feels… different. Engadget (and a bunch of other places) dropped the news: Netflix is rolling out a redesigned mobile app, and the big takeaway is a much, much deeper integration of vertical video. And when I say deeper, I mean this isn’t just some experimental tab they tucked away in a corner. Nope. This is front and center, baby.
Think about it. Netflix. The home of sprawling dramas, epic movies, documentaries you have to really sit down and watch. And now, they’re pushing tiny, vertical snippets. It’s like your favorite Michelin-star restaurant suddenly started serving street tacos. Not that there’s anything wrong with street tacos, mind you, but it’s just… different, you know? It’s a vibe shift. A big one.
They’ve had their “Fast Laughs” and “Kids Clips” features for a while now, which were basically short, vertical snippets designed to get you hooked or give you a quick chuckle. And yeah, I’ve scrolled through ’em. Sometimes they’re fun. Sometimes they’re just… there. But from what I’m seeing, this isn’t just an add-on anymore. This is a whole new layer of the app. It’s designed to make you discover stuff through these short-form videos. Like, instead of browsing by genre or scrolling through those endless carousels, you’re gonna get hit with a quick vertical clip that’s supposed to grab your attention in, what, 15 seconds? Maybe less?
The Algorithmic Rabbit Hole
And that’s where my journalist brain (and my slightly-too-cynical human brain) starts buzzing. Because this isn’t just about showing you clips. This is about the algorithm. It’s about data. It’s about keeping your eyeballs glued to the screen for just a few more minutes, then a few more, then suddenly it’s 2 AM and you’ve watched 70 short clips of a show you probably won’t ever actually sit down and watch because, well, it’s not vertical.
It feels like every single app out there is trying to be TikTok now, doesn’t it? Instagram did it, YouTube did it, even Pinterest has its own version. And now Netflix. It’s like they all got together in a secret meeting and decided, “You know what people really want? More scrolling. More dopamine hits. Less actual narrative commitment.” And look, who cares if it works, right? As long as the engagement numbers go up. But is it good for us? Is it good for the content itself? That’s the real question.
Are We All Just Scrolling Zombies Now?
I mean, if I’m being honest, I’m already pretty sure my attention span is shot. Thanks, internet. Thanks, smartphones. Thanks, whatever algorithm decided I needed to see 30 videos of cats doing parkour. So, adding another layer of short-form, rapid-fire content to an app I used to go to for long-form entertainment… it just feels like another step down that road. The road to total brain mush.
“The relentless pursuit of attention via short-form content isn’t innovation; it’s an arms race for our last remaining brain cells.”
Think about your favorite Netflix show. Imagine trying to discover Stranger Things through a series of 30-second vertical clips. Or The Crown. Or Squid Game. Would you get the same impact? Would you even get it? I doubt it. You’d probably see a monster, a fancy hat, or some weird game, swipe up, and move on. The nuance, the build-up, the character development – that stuff just doesn’t translate well to the vertical feed. It can’t. And that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? It’s not about depth; it’s about breadth. It’s about showing you more things, faster, in the hopes that something sticks.
The ‘Why’ Behind the Madness
So, why are they doing this? Money, honey. It’s always money. Netflix isn’t seeing the explosive subscriber growth it once did. The streaming market is saturated. Everyone and their grandma has a streaming service now. And TikTok? It’s eating everyone’s lunch when it comes to sheer time spent on the app, especially with younger demographics.
Netflix wants a piece of that pie. They want those sweet, sweet engagement metrics. They want you opening their app not just to pick a show, but to scroll through for a quick hit of entertainment, even if you don’t actually watch anything. It keeps you in their ecosystem. It keeps their brand top-of-mind. And probably, eventually, it opens the door for more targeted advertising, which is where the real big bucks are. It’s about fighting for every single second of your day, because those seconds translate into dollars. It’s a calculated move, for sure. A desperate one? Maybe a little.
What This Actually Means
Here’s the thing. This isn’t just a design tweak. This is Netflix fundamentally changing how it expects you to interact with its content. It’s a concession to the dominant consumption habits of the younger generation, and frankly, a lot of us older folks who’ve just been dragged along for the ride. It’s saying, “We see what’s popular, and we’re gonna do that too, even if it feels a bit… antithetical to our core product.”
Will it work? Yeah, probably. People love scrolling. People love quick hits. And Netflix has a ton of content to pull from for these clips. They’ll probably boost discovery for some shows that were otherwise buried. But I’m not gonna lie, it makes me a little sad. It feels like another nail in the coffin of deep, focused attention. It feels like another step towards everything becoming homogenized, every app trying to be every other app, until we’re just mindlessly swiping through an endless stream of digital noise.
So, get ready. Your Netflix app is about to look a lot more like your TikTok feed. And honestly, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing for anyone, except maybe Netflix’s quarterly reports…
