On Netflix and the Way the Net Works

Dear Netflix,

I've been your customer for a few years now. For the most part, your service has only ever been worth my money and a convenient and happy part of my life. Oh sure, I sometimes have arguments over our queue with my roommate, but that's no fault of yours. And sometimes the streaming is a bit spotty, but most of the time that's my internet provider, who can be kind of sketch, and not your servers. Well, there was that one time it was you, but you fixed it and I lived without my streaming movies for the short duration. I digress. I just want this to be clear; I like your service, and I like you! You're a good company, you treat your customers well in my experience, and you've provided a service I never thought I would enjoy or need so much!

So why do you have to lie to my face, Netflix?

I just don't understand. You're an internet business, like eBay or Amazon. You were born on the web and you'll die by the web. Perhaps you've gotten a bit bloated since you've grown, and taken on one too many people who don't understand how the internet works. I can understand that; old people have all those pretty qualifications and references, and they seem like such sure business bets when it comes to making those Big Decisions That Change the Company's Future. We also haven't had a really good example yet of what happens when a company makes a decision without first thinking about how the internet works. Unfortunately, I feel you may be about to become that example.

I understand why you're raising your prices, Netflix. The real reasons your raising your prices, I mean, not the bald-faced lies you told me and your other customers. I know the companies that make your product, like Sony (I bet you don't like Sony a lot right now), are realizing that you're making a profit and they would like that profit for themselves, or at least more of yours.

I would go on more, but you know what? This is the internet. All I have to do is link you to this article. That, there? That's why you're raising your prices. Because, if you don't, you'll go under like you're in Australia.

And I support you.

No, really. I would totally, 100% get behind you raising your prices so that you can afford to keep your streaming contracts and maybe even add new ones. I would think nothing of paying to keep the great customer support and to prevent a future where I have to pay 6 or 7 different companies to get the same service you, all in one site, could provide. I don't much like the big companies you have to contract with anyway. I don't like the way they limit streaming, the way they make it hard for me to get content online in a timely fashion, and the way they're dragging their feet on presenting new business models that work with this more tech-savvy age. And, as we already established, I like you.

So why did you have to lie to me? Don't try to hide it either. This is the internet, and anyone who spends any short length of time here knows this one very simple fact about the internet: Truth will out. Sure, we netizens stole it wholesale from Shakespeare, but we do that here. Plus, it's fitting. Here, where we swim in information, where almost anything we could ever want to know is a Google search away, the truth will eventually be known. And shared. And remixed. And set into humorous captions with the Hitler from Downfall.

And, the big thing is, the worst of it really, is that your lie wasn't even very good. It was spin. We hate spin. Like pornography, we know it when we see it, and your announcement was extremely NC-17. You didn't have to do that either. You could have just linked to the same article I did and say, "We have no choice. We're sorry. We'll do our best to continue to serve you, and hope you will help us usher in a new way of doing business."

It's honest. It's open. It isn't a goddamn lie to everyone giving you money.

So say that. Apologize for the attack on our collective intelligence, fire the idiots who don't understand the internet, and detail your goals for everyone, even the people who aren't your shareholders. Because, Netflix? Truth will out. And on the internet, the truth can also damn.

Most sincerely,

Kristin

A Netflix Subscriber

EDIT: For those who haven't seen the announcement, here it is.

On Narcissism and Internet Dragons

(A repost from my last failed attempt at blogging!)

Part of being a blogger is the firm conviction that you have something to say and people should want to listen to it. There’s also the implication that you have something new to say, but I would like to think my narcissism is more realistic in scope. I will, doubtless, say things many people have said before me. I can only hope that I either say it in a new way, a funny way, or in a way to reach a different audience than the ones that have heard it before.

To that end, I understand I will mostly rant, rave, and carry on into a void. And, like the ocean, a few of my messages in bottles may eventually reach others. If you have found this bottle; hello! Stay on the shore. I will try to send more your way.

I also understand the value of a good concept; blogs without some focus are generally blogs that lose traction quickly. On the other end of the scale, blogs that are too specific tend to run out of things to talk about just as fast. So, on this blog, I will talk about slaying internet dragons. First however, you all, who don’t live in my head (which is a wonderful, fantastic place) need to know what I mean by “internet dragons.”

I mean this in a few senses. First is, in a nut shell, a World of Warcraft sense. The best way to get a feel for this would be to visit this post from Shades of Grey. You don’t need to know anything about WoW to get it; just look at the images and the ALL CAPS text. Slaying internet dragons is why I play(ed; Warcraft and I have an on-again-off-again relationship) WoW, and a lot of other games as well. Slaying internet dragons is epic and I wish to write about it.

I also mean internet dragons in a sense I’ve yet to see before; internet dragons are the massive amounts of hate, homophobia, sexism, etc., that plague the areas of the internet I visit and much of our IRL world as well. An internet dragon is ignorance and arrogance, laid bare and open for all to see. These internet dragons make me angry, so me and my clue-by-four will attempt to dispense the great power of education in hopes of slaying one or two. Or at least making for some great case studies for my third love and passion.

Trolls. I love trolls, and trolling, and flame wars, and internet drama. I love it. I can’t express to you how much I enjoy watching people get trolled, intentionally or not. Oh, I call it an interest in internet anthropology and I’ll make plenty of academic references and dress it up in intellectualism all I can, but let me just be honest at the front: I am laughing at your e-pain.

Yes, some of the internet drama makes me angry. Angry enough to rant about it on a blog, in fact. Mostly, though, internet drama makes my damn day. As such, in one post, you will see me laughing my ass off about RaceFail 09, and in the next, I will post lengthy thoughts on the poor response of Penny Arcade to the Dickwolves Debacle. These posts may very well be on the same day. You’ll need to learn to roll with it. And I will link to this first entry for the inevitable attempt to call me out for saying, “TITS OR GTFO” to someone who comments on an eventual Women in Gaming post.

It’ll happen. Mark my words.