If you’re a fan of Netflix, the streaming app has now added a new feature that will rank the top 10 most popular programs on its service in your country. The top 10 lists will display the most favoured programs across its catalogue, including both movies and TV shows. To check out these lists, subscribers can head over to either their Movies or TV show tabs in the app and you’ll see a list for each category. These lists are updated daily.
Designed to be eye-catching, the lists are pretty easy to spot as they look completely different from Netflix’s other lists with a show’s rank displayed right next to its thumbnail. But, you can also see the effects of this ranking in other lists as well. If a show on your lists is on that day’s top 10, then you will be able to see a small red banner at the top right corner of the show’s tile.
Before this, Netflix had rows of popular and trending content (they’re still there, of course) but I personally think this new feature conveys the visual message of letting you know what everyone else is watching, a lot better. As a result, this can be a more effective way in helping you decide on what to watch—a problem that plagues pretty much every Netflix subscriber.
Although all subscribers in the region will have the same top 10 lists each day, the position of the list will change depending on how relevant the shows and movies are to the user. For example, if you’re someone who only watches Korean dramas and anime series, and the top 10 shows for the day are mostly horror or documentaries, the list will not appear that high on your screen.
For more than six months, Netflix has been experimenting with top 10 lists in Mexico and the UK. Reportedly, subscribers in those countries have found them useful, so the streaming service is now rolling this feature out worldwide.
It is not surprising for Netflix to implement this new feature at this time since the company is facing a lot of competition from other streaming services that have begun to pop up from major networks and brands. Even in Malaysia, Netflix is no longer the #1 streaming service—losing that spot to Astro Go—so the pressure is on for the company to innovate.
What do you think of this change? Will it actually help you finally decide on watching something? Let me know in the comments below.
