NetFlix Officially Switches from 5-Star to Thumbs Up/Down Rating System

Online streaming giant NetFlix has announced last month that they have been considering replacing their 5-star rating system with a thumbs up or thumbs down rating method, which was not received as warmly as their recent ‘skip intro’ feature addition. Many of NetFlix’ customers have grown accustomed to the 5-star rating system to develop their taste profile but the company insists that the new system is superior and will be a greater benefit for everyone.

Many users have voiced their opinion to NetFlix that many of the movies or titles that they have rated 1-star persist on showing up on their user profile pages so this is where this new thumbs down system comes in. Any title that receives a thumbs down rating from the user will still show up when typed into the search bar, but will now be omitted from the movie list pages.  According to NetFlix, their internal testing shows that the thumbs up/down system increases the likelyhood that a user will also rate the title they watched by as much as 200%.

“The more you teach us about your unique tastes, the better job we can do suggesting your next great binge-worthy show or that perfect title for movie night,” wrote Cameron Johnson, NetFlix Director of Product Innovation at the company’s official blog.