How to Easily Access Reviews and Ratings on Netflix
If you’ve been using Netflix for a long time, you’ve likely noticed that user-reviews miraculously vanished from the site. In 2018, the popular streaming service removed more than a decade of user-generated content, citing a drop in usage of reviews for the change.
In place of reviews, Netflix users now have the option to give a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” on content. This feedback is then used to help determine the likelihood of a user liking other content, but the individual feedback is not directly shown to Netflix subscribers. It’s also limited in its effectiveness because a single-click feedback system lacks the depth of a ratings and reviewing system as the feedback is not directly visible to users.
The Setbacks of a Hidden Feedback System
While it may seem easier to just give a thumbs up or down to rate your program, when it comes to selecting your movie choices, not having access to the viewer’s feedback could leave you in the dark when picking out your next title.
As the Netflix website states, “…we use a recommendation algorithm that takes certain factors into consideration, such as:
- The genres of TV shows and movies available.
- Your streaming history, and previous ratings you’ve made.
- The combined ratings of all Netflix members who have similar tastes to you.
We use these factors when we calculate the percent match score shown next to a title. This score is unique to you, and indicates how likely we think you are to like that title.”
At first glance, this may seem useful, but unless you are taking the time to rate every single show or movie you watch on Netflix, the streaming service uses ratings from similar Netflix members and determines what you’ll like from their preferences. However, Netflix fails to mention how they determine which members are similar to you, leaving users wondering who Netflix is basing these determinations on.
Whereas Netflix previously provided an in-depth experience for its users to contribute to a dialogue about a title and benefit from insights into any title right on their platform, now they’re left wondering about the validity of their recommended movies and in the dark about what people did or didn’t enjoy about a show. There is also the unknown of whether or not Netflix is promoting its own original content since the recommendations are provided by Netflix without any first-hand audience feedback shared.
This rating model especially affects couples, friends, or families who share a Netflix login without utilizing the individual profile capabilities. If this describes you, then your recommendations through the new Netflix rating system will always be heavily skewed towards those you share the account with. For example, if your significant other shares your account and binge watches shows that are nothing like what you like, your recommendations from Netflix will be skewed based on that data. While before you had the visibility to see reviews and decide for yourself if you would like a show, you’re now stuck with Netflix’s biased guess.
Because your recommendations are loosely-based and can be impacted by others utilizing your account, it’s easy to find yourself starting a new movie or show only to realize shortly after that you don’t like it. Then you have to backtrack out of the title only to restart your search, wasting time and adding frustration — all of which could have easily been avoided by visibility to user-generated reviews and ratings.
Other Options for Reviews on Netflix
While you can’t access reviews directly through Netflix, there are still ways to learn what others think about a movie or show before committing to watching it.
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is one of the most popular movie review sites online. Here, you can see not only see audience reviews but critic reviews as well, and they’re separated so you can distinguish what critics think vs. your peers.
In addition to the general rating percentage, you can access full reviews, see photos, review cast members, and more. While the site offers a full look at everything about a movie, it requires leaving Netflix to learn about a movie or show. That means when you find a possible movie on Netflix, you need to open a new tab, go to Rotten Tomatoes, read the reviews, then go back and either click Play or search for something else. While you may have access to a lot of information, it’s not easily accessible.
IMDB
Similar to Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB houses a significant amount of information about movies and TV shows. From cast bios to movie trivia to reviews, you can find just about anything you’re looking for on IMDB. But, at the same time, if you’re just looking for reviews, the pages can become oversaturated with content to sift through just to see what critics and your peers think about a film.
While reviews are available on the site, its primary function is to serve as an “authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content,” with reviews being an ancillary feature. In addition, reviews are only accepted by IMDB members, leaving the ratings skewed to those who have made an IMDB account rather than the general population.
Like Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB also needs to be accessed separately from Netflix, forcing members to go to a separate webpage to learn more about movies or shows.
Zeeker
What if there was a solution that allowed you to leave comments directly on Netflix titles and rate them without leaving their website? With Zeeker, you can not only review content directly on Netflix’s website, but you can also engage in dialogues, ask questions, and recommend other shows.
By downloading Zeeker’s easy-to-use Chrome Extension, you can go to the webpage of any Netflix show, open a Zeeker dialogue popover right from that page, and join the conversation. You can rate, add a review, respond to someone else’s comments, and ask questions directly on a show’s page on Netflix. And, prior to starting a new movie or series, you can see what fellow Zeeker users are saying about it.
The beauty with Zeeker is that, unlike sites like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB, you don’t have to leave Netflix to access information on a particular title. Plus, because Zeeker focuses on discussions, the reviews aren’t hidden between cast bios and photos of the film. Instead, you can focus on what people are saying and join the discussions in a single click.
And, unlike relying solely on the thumbs up and down recommendations given on Netflix, Zeeker users can share in-depth reviews, read direct feedback, and access user-generated content that isn’t filtered through biased algorithms. The user-feedback that was removed by Netflix now regains visibility directly over the site.
Start the Dialogue
By utilizing Zeeker’s discussion tool, you can confidently make decisions while scrolling through Netflix rather than allowing an algorithm to decide what you’ll like. Furthermore, Zeeker doesn’t limit you to engaging on Netflix titles. The discussion tool also works on other popular streaming sites including Hulu and Amazon Prime Video, allowing you to learn more about titles on each network.
Finally, Zeeker isn’t just for movie reviews, so you can engage on websites with everything from news discussions to cryptocurrency questions, and more.
Add Zeeker to Chrome today to start engaging with others online.
