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So… did Netflix win?

In the case of the Netflix password crackdown, did ease of use win over user outrage?

Daley Wilhelm

Published in

UX Collective

4 min readJul 20, 2023

Netflix screen, “A Netflix account is for people who live in the same location. Everyone who lives at your primary location can use Netflix when they’re on the go or traveling. If this is your account, we’ll help you set your primary location on the next screen. Continue.” — Here’s the new definition of who gets to use a Netflix account. Image from — https://techwireasia.com/2023/05/the-end-of-the-password-sharing-era-in-netflix-heres-what-it-means-for-subscribers/

In February, I wrote about the upset caused by Netflix’s announcement that they would be cracking down on password sharing, a practice that was previously encouraged. I thought that it was short-sighted by Netflix to presume that all users on a single account we’re part of a single, fixed location household. This idea ignored a significant portion of users: people who travel for business, children off at college, vacation houses, and the average family that doesn’t all live under the same roof.

Comment, “Umm… Floridian here… What about snowbirds with a summer house and a winter house… 2 accounts that they keep canceling? Heck what about me with frequent business trips to the same hotel near the same head office?” — Just one of the many displeased comments on my original review of the situation. Image from — https://uxdesign.cc/the-users-netflix-forgot-about-b410d464d173

Given the irate tweets, and the heap of comments saying that they would be forgoing their Netflix subscriptions because of this decision, Netflix must have lost a lot of subscribers upon officially implementing this rule, right?

Wrong.

Netflix enjoyed an influx subscribers. There was an anticipated spate of cancellations, but according to Variety, “the ratio of sign-ups to cancelations since May 23 increased 25.6% compared with the previous 60-day period.” It turned out that the people faced with this screen really wanted to watch whatever they were trying to watch, even if that meant paying for a new subscription.

Netflix screen, “This TV isn’t connected to the primary location for this account. Netflix accounts can set one primary location. Create an account to enjoy your own Netflix today. Create an account. Did we get it wrong? You have options. Manage primary location. I’m traveling.” — Tried watching the new season of Black Mirror? You might’ve gotten this message instead. Image from — https://www.reddit.com/r/awfuleverything/comments/11zhda4/netflixs_new_antipassword_sharing_rules_have/

What happened to all the outrage? What happened to the people swearing that they would resort to piracy over paying for another subscription?

Here’s the thing about piracy: the Internet has made it largely easier to execute, but it’s still not as easy as just hitting a prompt to subscribe to Netflix. Given the choice, most people will take the path of least resistance and opt in to something that they might even be against “on principle” if it means easy access.

I'd be far more interested in a long-term view. Will the users stick? Will they keep their subscriptions running on a regular basis or round-robin through different subscriptions instead, activating one a month at a time to watch some specific…