Netflix Wants You to Share Your Favorite ‘moments’ on Social Media
Short videos are, of course, in vogue. Why sit down to watch a two-and-a-half hour essay on YouTube when you can watch 300 30-second videos in a row? Now even Netflix wants in on the game. While it may seem counterproductive for a company that specializes in long-form content to focus on short-form video, Netflix’s approach is both unique and very close to smart.
On Monday, the company announced “Moments,” a new feature in its mobile app that allows users to save their favorite moments from shows and movies for later viewing. Of course, these saved clips can be re-watched in the app, but they can also be shared on social networks like Facebook and Instagram.
However, you can’t share the clip itself on social media: that would be too convenient. Instead, if someone clicks on your shared link, Netflix will open on the other user’s end and they can watch your moment on their Netflix account.
It’s a shame, because being able to share actual clips on platforms like Instagram and Facebook would be a great way to generate word of mouth for a particular show. Netflix already dealt itself a blow when it disabled screenshots across its apps, making it much harder for fans to share their favorite scenes across their networks. Sure, sharing links to Moments will probably help some users find shows they wouldn’t otherwise watch, but in my opinion it’s not very convenient to have to go to the Netflix app to watch those clips rather than watch them in your tape. . My guess is that most people will skip over the Moments link posts and miss them entirely, even though they could easily have watched the clip and been instantly hooked.
This feature is currently available in the Netflix app for iOS. The company plans to add Moments to its Android app in a few weeks.
How to Save Clips as “Moments” in the Netflix App
Assuming this feature works on your version of the Netflix app, launch the show or movie and then tap the screen. Here you should see a “moments” option. Tap this and Netflix will automatically cut the current scene and save it to the My Netflix tab. You can go to this tab to view any clips you have saved and share links to them on social media.