Browsing by Subject "Active audience"
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Item Believe in algorithms or believe in your friends? : the influences of the different ways in seeking what to watch on Netflix(2023-04-21) Hong, Sooyeon; Strover, Sharon; Straubhaar, Joseph D.; Watkins, Craig; Johnson, Thomas J.While a trend of cord-cutting accelerated in the early days of the pandemic, the prevalence of media streaming platforms has skyrocketed, and Netflix currently leads the streaming industry. In comparison to legacy TV networks, current streaming platforms deliver a unique viewing experience to their viewers through the use of specialized functionality known as “algorithmic recommendations.” We are better informed about what shows are better informed about what shows are available on the platforms, which ones are the most popular, and which shows we could be interested in as a result of the technological affordance. Among the streaming services, Netflix has spent a significant amount of time and effort enhancing its content curation algorithms in order to retain and attract users. However, the algorithmic recommendation is not the only method for discovering and searching for contents on the streaming platform. The present study began with a question: “How do the younger generations discover content to watch on Netflix?” Having grown up with digital devices and social media, the younger generations have access to alternative information sources for recommendations on what to watch. Based on media choice theories and the concept of active audience, this study proposed a conceptual framework. This quantitative, survey-based study used Structural Equation Modeling to estimate influential relationships between the theoretically based concepts. The results indicated that the impacts of Netflix algorithms on the decision-making processes of younger generations regarding what to watch were not as significant as worried of critics. This study suggested not only theoretical implications in Uses and Gratifications, Media Repertoires, and Integrated perspectives on media choice processes, but also practical implications of algorithms in the film and television industries, user agency (audience) and media agency (algorithmic designers).