Is Netflix being funny or creepy with its A Christmas Prince-shaming tweets?
"To the 53 people who've watched A Christmas Prince every day for the past 18 days: Who hurt you?"
Internet giant Netflix has been criticised after it used customer data to "shame" users for repeatedly watching one of its Christmas titles.
The company implied that those who watched A Christmas Prince over successive days were emotionally damaged. It posted this message to its Twitter account on Sunday (December 11): "To the 53 people who've watched A Christmas Prince every day for the past 18 days: Who hurt you?"
So far the tweet has been retweeted over 100,000 times and received 300,000 likes.
With 100 billion hours of video watched every week, it will come as no surprise that the Silicon Valley-based company keeps a detailed history of users' viewing habits. However, some claim the light-hearted tweet went too far and divulged information that should be kept private.
User Andrew Strutt described the tweet as "creepy".
"Is it in your Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy that you will collect and analyze viewing habits so that you can mock people via social media?" he queried.
That's pretty creepy @netflix. Is it in your Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy that you will collect and analyze viewing habits so that you can mock people via social media? Asking for a friend. #fb
— Andrew Strutt (@andrew_strutt) December 11, 2017
Critics said Netflix was abusing user data and claimed the tweet was reminiscent of 'Big Brother' from George Orwell's novel, 1984.
One wrote: "To the @netflix employee who recently watched 1984: It's not an instruction manual."
I imagine the folks at Netflix might agree. The engineering behind 1984's tech is somewhat crude compared to what's available to Netflix today.
— Android Developer (@androider) December 12, 2017
Very creepy, Netflix. Not cool spying on your PAYING customers and then judging them in public. 😒
— Angela.Kay (@DeepSouthProud) December 11, 2017
While another noted that users who suffered from Asperger's or other autistic spectrum disorders could explain the figures.
Not cool. Many people with Autism or ASD watch things with repetition. You never know why a client may be doing this, but to call them out isn’t funny or witty. Between this, raising prices and cancelling Haters Back Off...I think I am going to cancel my membership.
— Christopher 🎗 (@chrislehnherr) December 12, 2017
However, some said that the tweet did not overstep the mark and was a welcome attempt at humour.
BAHAHAHAHA!! @netflix for the win!!
— johnjay van es (@JohnjayVanEs) December 12, 2017
They aren’t mocking people. It’s a joke. You don’t need analytics to make it. Do you feel personally attacked by this? Grow a pair
— kcidymccus (@thatdogperson) December 11, 2017
Mortified that @netflix knows how many times I’ve watched Sonic Underground. pic.twitter.com/NjFCPVviPF
— Adam Tuff (@agtuff) December 11, 2017
Hey @netflix, how many times has my husband watched "Frasier" all the way through? I feel like it's a lot because I can no longer tell time and I measure the progress of the year by what episode he's watching. pic.twitter.com/VvSKyw9H8D
— Jaime Mahoney (@jaimenmahoney) December 11, 2017
A Christmas Prince was released in November, but with a lowly score of 5.8 on IMDb, and has failed to set the entertainment world alight.
The plot follows an American undercover journalist as she visits the fictional nation of Aldovia in an attempt to investigate rumours of the prince's abdication. Along the way she gets to know the prince and, ultimately, they fall in love and marry. Buzzfeed has called it "quite possibly the best worst Christmas movie ever made".
Watching the @netflix original, #AChristmasPrince, about an American journalist who goes undercover to get the scoop on a handsome prince. Here are her notes: pic.twitter.com/euGPgCvOd7
— Emily Black Favreau (@ebfavs) November 27, 2017
I just started watching this #APrinceforChristmas movie on @netflix and it is so unapologetically silly and satisfying.
— Jennifer Armstrong (@jmkarmstrong) December 2, 2017
Netflix has been using the holiday period to reveal its most watched titles over the past 12 months.
According to its stats, true crime parody American Vandal was the most binge-watched show last year while award-winning biopic The Crown was the series that took the most time to be watched.
