Getty Images Film critics Crusty Siskel and Ebert would approve. They can give him two thumbs up. The streaming giant Netflix NFLX said it was adding a new way for its subscribers to show that they really like a show: with a button on the front page of each show showing two thumbs up and the words “Love This”. It carries far more user approval than Caesar’s Thumbs’ previous split “Not for me” or “I like it,” Variety reported. “We’ve heard from members that there is a difference between something they liked – and something they really liked,” said Christine Doig-Cardet, director of product innovation at Netflix. “We give them more control and power over what is presented to them.” The dual thumb option will appear next to the up or down buttons on Netflix application interfaces across all platforms and will be released worldwide next week from today. Netflix said the change was not designed as a tribute to Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, film critics at the two Chicago newspapers who merged in 1975 to create a sturdy PBS weekly show called Sneak Previews (and many consecutive shows), which are notable for double the ratings in movies that both liked with a bit of humor. Netflix, on the other hand, conducted customer surveys and interviews last year and found that viewers expected two thumbs up as the visual way to express the true love of a particular show. It also marks the first time in five years that Netflix has asked for more differentiated ratings from users on its shows. He had previously used a five-star rating system, but said up / down ratings are more useful for recommending other programs to fans. The company saw loyalty rates rise after ratings simplified in 2017, but Doig-Cardet said viewers more recently “felt that these two options were not enough.” The company, of course, also utilizes the vast viewing data generated by 220 million registered households and hundreds of millions of individual users to coordinate proposals around the world. This is one reason why people do not use their thumb down as much as their thumb. If they do not like a show, they usually stop watching and Netflix influences it in its future proposals. Viewers can also show their disgust for a particular show by removing a string from the watch queue or hiding a title from Netflix menus and suggestions.
