Computer software company Domo, contends that 90% of today’s data has been created within the last 2 years.
This data has been termed, “big data”. But what is it exactly? There are many different definitions, however Gandomi and Haider explain it using the three V’s: volume, variety and velocity.
Volume refers to the vast amount of data that is created every second. These datasets are too large and cannot be analysed using traditional methods and technologies.
Variety refers to the different types of data that we produce. Ninety-five per cent of the data that exists is unstructured – in the form of video, text, messages, social media content or audio.
Velocity refers to the rate at which data is being created. For every minute in 2018, people watched 4.3 million Youtube videos; 187 million emails were sent; 2.4 million snaps were created; 481,000 tweets were sent and 266,000 hours of video was streamed on Netflix. Astonishing!
We know that there is so much data that is being produced in a multitude of different forms, but in order for it to have any meaning, it must be analysed using big data software and algorithms.
Netflix is a prime example of how big data can be leveraged and transformed into actionable insights. Currently, they have 139 million subscribers and have been gathering behavioural data on their users. This is why they can provide such a personalised and enhanced user experience for each and everyone of us. To illustrate, when you watch a video on Netflix, it will gather data on what you searched, when you watched it, on what device it was watched on, if the video was paused (and if so, when?), if portions of the video were re-watched and what rating you gave the video.
All of these aspects help to give Netflix insights on our usage and what we might like to watch. Their goal is to keep users watching for hours on end, binging the latest TV shows and re-watching those that they love. These algorithms that Netflix have invented has saved them $1 billion a year due to customer retention and the recommendation system that Netflix has, influences approximately 80% of the content that is streamed.
If you think that Netflix has stopped there, you’re wrong. Have you ever noticed that the thumbnails change frequently? Habit-tracking has allowed Netflix to further their personalisation of user’s accounts by customising the thumbnails they see based on what they’ve seen in the part and what they’ve started to watch recently. For example, if you’ve been watching many romantic comedies in the past week, Netflix may change the cover art of other content to show the main character and their love interest.
It is reported that Netflix is planning to make 90 movies a year, so what are the implications of that? Maintaining maximum stream time may be one of their major objectives, however getting you to watch their TV shows and movies is another. With personalisation occurring on every level, it makes me wonder if we are actually choosing what we watch, or is Netflix choosing for us?
Thanks for reading, and let me know if you like what Netflix recommends to you in the comments below!
jennifer's D I G I T A L marketing blog 
Great read! I didn’t know that Netflix actually gathered that much data on me and it was really interesting to find out about the changed thumbnails. Also, I sometimes likes what Netflix recommends me but it’s usually their movies/TV shows which can get annoying
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Hey, thanks for reading! I totally agree with you. What Netflix recommends can get annoying, especially if it’s one of their movies/shows that isn’t that interesting.
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All my thumbnails on netflix must be of a romantic theme, as most of the films and shows i watch are romantic hahaha.
Only negative about netflix, is the rating system they have. There’s so many bad films/shows out there and the ‘percentage match’ is always off. But if there were to have an actual star rating, people would not watch anything below 3 starts. So there user activity would drop, and from that I understand why they don’t have it.
Kindest,
Joshy
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Hey Joshy, thanks for reading! Who doesn’t love a good romcom?
I guess the percentage match is just another way to lure us in. They do have a thumbs up and down button though, which aids them in account personalisation.
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Great post. Very interesting, but also quite scary, I guess thats the price we pay for convenience.
Now that you mention it I have noticed that there has been a large influx of Netflix produced shows. A lot of them are of a very low standard, occasionally you will get a gem. Seems like they want to produce their own material to reduce their licensing fees.
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Thanks for reading! I agree, a lot of these new Netflix shows are subpar. I wonder how Netflix will do when Apple’s streaming service begins to release their own TV shows and movies.
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Awesome read! I actually didn’t notice this until reading this post, now it’s clearer than ever!
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Hey Alex, thanks for reading! It’s definitely crazy to think that Netflix is tracking our every move pretty much. Not really sure how I feel about it. But then again, all they want to do is to recommend us better content, so can we complain?
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Hey Jennifer,
I never knew why Netflix kept changing their title pages. Do you think that even though they have the ability to monitor so much information they can still get it wrong? And do you think that the wrong title images could turn people away from a show?
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