Netflix Taps Facebook To Let You Privately Recommend Content To Friends

Netflix has just launched a new social recommendation feature that lets you suggest content to friends without posting publicly to social media. After connecting your Netflix and Facebook accounts, Netflix will now ask users a question each time they finish watching a movie or TV show: Do you want to suggest this video to a friend?

If so, users are able to choose from a list of Facebook Friends (in thumbnail form) or search by name, and add an optional message. But this is where things are a bit different than you might expect.

Instead of posting that as a status update or sending it to your friends’ Newsfeeds, Netflix will simply alert those friends the next time they sign in, notifying them that you have suggested a certain television show.

If that friend hasn’t connected their Netflix and Facebook accounts, Netflix will send the user a private message using Facebook Messenger.

Friends can thank you for your recommendation, and you’ll be alerted when they watch your show.

This kind of feature may achieve in one fell swoop the same social TV experience that others have been trying at for years. However, there is a UX issue with typing on many set top boxes and consoles, so that may deter some from searching through hundreds of Facebook friends.

In either case, you’re free to start blowing up your friends’ Netflix feeds with all your favorite guilty pleasures. Go forth, and suggest!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOBpprQdZTI&w=640&h=360]