Netflix Streaming Social Media Silence In Response To Criticisms

In the wake of its controversial move to split DVD services into a separate business called Qwikster, Netflix has been unusually quiet.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings buried the news in the 10th paragraph of an apology Monday morning, confusing some and leading to an avalanche of comments on the Netflix blog, many of them not kind.

It didn't help matters that the new service Qwikster couldn't secure its Twitter name since it was in the control of a pot-smoking elmo (the avatar has since been changed and the Twitter user says he's open to negotiations to selling the account).

So how did Netflix respond to this new wave of criticisms?

At least in the past 24 hours, social media silence.

As thousands of tweets are sent to the @Netflix Twitter account, the last tweet there was on Monday morning:

@ netflix : Hello Netflix followers. We’ve been listening. See CEO Reed Hastings’ explanation on changes to the service http://t.co/5UlKUdh4.

Even more bizarre, the company's official "help" account @NetflixHelps, touted in the official account's bio, has been silent since Saturday, Sept. 17. It too has received plenty of replies, and despite the bio saying "Tweets will be responded to M-F," not a single tweet was sent Monday. Tuesday has also started out silent.

Its Facebook account too has stayed silent.

One problem with staying quiet is the Internet can mock its slow response, and right on cue, a @NetflixGlobalPR parody account has already started up, firing tweets like, "Really hoping Hulu makes a bad public decision today."

This could be a sign of Netflix holding off on public statements, hoping to ride out the wave of criticism or perhaps pondering its next move. Whatever the situation, the Netflix stock hasn't had a very good day, and the company may want to respond to dissatisfied customers soon.

Comments

[p8q2b8ng]

04:25 PM on 09/21/2011

They did the right thing and a few people got some people on the internet in a uproar.
In other words, some guy said this is awful, and a bunch of people listened and did the same, and it repeated.

Netflix is just waiting for everyone to calm down and stop being so irrational.

[Mia Nodecker]

04:32 PM on 09/21/2011

you wish..

[p8q2b8ng]

04:40 PM on 09/21/2011

I wish what?

[jt1980]

06:22 PM on 09/21/2011

"Right thing" from what perspective? The decision might be "right" for Netflix (very much debatable considering the uproar it incited among the customer base and the investment community) but clearly wrong for the customers.

I hope that your view isn't the prevalent view within Netflix because that'd mean the company doesn't get it.

[p8q2b8ng]

06:49 PM on 09/21/2011

I'm not siding with the company, the general public, the angry people, etc. I'm siding with the evidence. There is a good amount of reasoning behind what they did, and very little reasoning for not doing it. People took the very little reasoning and freaked out about it and made it into this awful thing.

Tell me the reasons why what Netflix did was wrong, and I will tell you why your being idiotic for believing so.

[drp103]

11:47 AM on 09/21/2011

hiding one queue from the other, they are.

[BrandGenius]

11:05 AM on 09/21/2011

StealingShare is a brand company that helps companies avoid missteps like this. The problem with Netflix was not that that their DVD-by-mail did not make sense being combined with their streaming service, but rather that they never defined their brand in any sense that gave consumers the larger reason of "why" they existed together. Without a brand, Netflix has relegated itself to a media form and a technology, both of which any competitor can provide with relative ease.

We talk more about the issues with their brand at http://www.stealingshare.com.

[John Horner]

10:28 AM on 09/21/2011

How does one respond to universal ridicule? I have yet to see one non-Netflix employee say that the Qwikster separation is a smart or welcome move.

[jt1980]

04:11 PM on 09/21/2011

I'm sure many Netflix employees are demoralized right now, especially the people who will be exiled to Qwikster (really had problem typing that word - kept hitting the u key!) which the CEO already implied as having no future.

[Mia Nodecker]

04:33 PM on 09/21/2011

and the Qwikster name is really stupid

[RattleCat]

07:21 AM on 09/21/2011

Another day.  Another $250M in lost market cap?

[yoyodyne666]

07:16 AM on 09/21/2011

They screwed up, and they are going to pay the price big time. Now is the time for their competition strike the mortal blow.

[KarateKid]

08:33 AM on 09/21/2011

Who is their competition?

[RattleCat]

08:45 AM on 09/21/2011

Blockbuster on the DVD-by-mail side.  Dish has quietly been making improvements.

RedBox on the DVD-by-jukebox side.

Amazon and Blockbuster on the streaming side - but thats just to name a few.  It really depends on what you want to watch.  Personally, I only use streaming for TV shows where I don't care about the lower quality.  To watch a movie on a home theatre system, you really need local media.

[yoyodyne666]

07:13 AM on 09/21/2011

I got that email, one of the worst I have read grammatically.

[Leah Ahern]

10:20 AM on 09/21/2011

You read it grammatically?

[Ramart]

04:41 AM on 09/21/2011

I've upgraded bandwidth from my ISP twice and have a premium-download-speed plan, yet Netflix's streamed HD movies sputter with halting motion during even slow-action scenes for the first half hour or so while the data stream is buffering. And the sound from streaming is only two-channel stereo. That's all a big letdown considering the 5.1-channel, DTS-HD, Blu-ray capabilities I have with physical discs.

Technologically, the tail is wagging the dog in this bifurcation at Netflix. Then again, expediency and profit margin in time trump even superior technology, as with the inevitable market victories of, for example, VHS over Betamax or Blu-ray over HD-DVD.

[Nerdiac]

09:14 AM on 09/21/2011

Sounds like you need more RAM, not bandwidth :/

[Em Spearing]

09:34 PM on 09/20/2011

The feckless tin-ears running Netflix into the ground should have borrowed a line from Hippocrates -- Fist do no harm. Months before the ham-fisted unveiling of the "enhanced" Netflix (ie, the bifurcation of its products and sixty percent-plus price hikes), its nearsighted leadership started in on its long-loyal member base. They clubbed member reviews senseless, strangled avatars and bios to death, reduced web page functionality to the point of near-uselessness, and upchucked an utterly sickening GUI all over the page. Tens of thousands of complaints went pointedly ignored. Outraged members began to abandon ship. Now, since that mess, exemplified by the dog's breakfast web page, was such a resounding success, Netflix doubles down. Someone please define "insanity" to them. Forget Hippocrates -- Lizzie Borden would have fit nicely in Reed Hasting's Cordovan wing tips.

[inapickle]

03:31 AM on 09/21/2011

Thank you for mentioning the awful new(ish) webpage. The scroll makes me slightly motion sick and I've never been motion sick in my life. The search function is terrible. Just today I tried to find a UK TV genre comedy to stream. When I went to British TV comedies (you can't search for movies by UK) a grand total of about 8 popped up. I knew there had to be more and so started searching Brit TV I'd watched in the past- sure enough the two I searched, Coupling and The IT Crowd are still available to stream but don't turn up on a search of Brit. comedies.

This is really a loss for them. As their search has gotten worse (it was never great), I tend to search online and often find that I can watch the movies/shows I've found elsewhere for free. Everytime this happens spending money on Netflix becomes less compelling.

[gysgt213]

08:58 PM on 09/20/2011

As a long time Netflix member I would just like to remind people that Netflix communications problems are 100 % their fault. However, Netflix is really not the problem here. The real problem is the movie studios and other owners like Stars thinking that their crappy movies and tv shows are worth more to the general public than they really are. Let's face it for every good and interesting movie or TV show there are hundreds that are just garbage. But these people want us to pay them like they are producing good stuff. Netflix really needed to commuicate to their customers that these owners were demanding millions of dollars and wanted Netflix to charge their customers more.

[RattleCat]

09:46 PM on 09/20/2011

That may be true.  However, creating a separate company to shove DVD users into does nothing to alleviate that.  Now, Netflix may tell you its to get a more accurate count of streaming users, however, even a high school kid could draw that information from the current customer database.  The database can tell you what every customer streams, and which ones don't stream.  Their excuse holds no water at all.

Also keep in mind the pricing change does not penalize the streaming only user, but rather the streaming use who also wants to rent DVDs.  Again, this is not consistant with what should be across the board increases for streaming users.

[ZonaCumia]

08:53 PM on 09/20/2011

Expand your streaming and this would make sense. If not, you are raising the prices without doing anything for us, the customers. So far, this sucks.

[Ryan81]

08:09 PM on 09/20/2011

My God, it's like Michael Brown (aka Brownie) is in charge at Netflix.

[RattleCat]

08:04 PM on 09/20/2011

FYI - Dish (aka Blockbuster) will be announcing new streaming products on Friday.  This could be the week that never ends for Hastings.

[ZonaCumia]

08:54 PM on 09/20/2011

Seriously? If so, I may be back to blockbuster. Them not streaming is the only thing missing.

[Antoinette Anderson]

09:51 PM on 09/20/2011

My friend switched from Netflix to BB and loves. it. I agree that it's pretty much the beginning of the end for Netflix. They've been losing movies since November and has jacked the prices twice.

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

07:24 PM on 09/20/2011

They should drop the "Quixster" idea, plead temporary insanity, and Hastings should apologise again for being a fool.. His "I messed up" apology was really lame.

I think he should step down because he's really botched this one.

Streaming may be the future, but the quality isn't there yet. The quailty is extremely variable (at best), and people still buy DVD's and Bluray's.

[Endora]

07:36 PM on 09/20/2011

Qwikster is a terrible name - really, really bad. I can't believe they got positive feedback on that from a marketing survey. My guess is they didn't try it on anyone but a roomful of yes-men. Nobody could think this is a good name.

I'm still a subscriber, but this sideshow is painful to watch.

[MontanaHome]

08:10 PM on 09/20/2011

Agreed. "Qwikster" is so lame. I'm also a subscriber (streaming/mail), but, like you, I hope they resolve this with a little more dignity and transparency.

[smoovejef]

07:24 PM on 09/20/2011

Netflix has made some pretty clueless decisions as of late, but I can afford to hang around to see if the streaming choices improve. I know it was advertised that prices for some went up as much as 60%, but my increase was $2, so I really can't shout too much.
But I want to see some food on my plate (improved streamable content), or won't have a use for the streaming service.

[kitsapdem]

08:02 PM on 09/20/2011

Yes I still like Netflix too, but I am at the point where I want to see better streaming choices, with a lot more choices...they don't add a lot of new stuff...and I am noticing I am starting to go to Amazon more for newer releases..For me DVDs in the mail is so over..Instant streaming is the way to go, and if Neflix wants to keep on the cutting edge - this is where it needs to improve. Soon DVD's will be obsolete altogether. And anyone who can come up with cable tv at least to some decent extent+online streaming for a decent price will make a ton.