It’s 15 degrees outside. You’ve made it off of the icy streets and into the cozy confines of the A train. Exhausted from work, you flip through your phone and dive into Netflix.
Is this commute home the time for a drama? A documentary about killer women? Noah Centineo’s abs? You settle on Friends. Suddenly aware of your own seclusion, you find yourself missing your friends. Chandler’s jokes are just funnier with someone by your side. Bereft, you eat the stale granola bar in your bag. But what’s this? A new feature? Share to Instagram Stories? You cradle your phone with a sense of renewed hope and press the button. This is the news you needed.
Netflix recently announced a new feature that enables users to share the TV show or movie they’re watching in the app direct to their Instagram Story. While this may seem insignificant, the streaming app is just the latest to hop aboard the Instagram Story train; Spotify, Musical.ly, and GoPro already participate. Instagram Stories now has over 400 million daily active users, a rapid increase from the 300 million this past November. Facebook executives share that Stories are on track to replace News Feed as the primary social sharing platform.
So yes: people do care what shows you’re watching. The new Netflix feature ” will add the title’s custom art to a users’ Instagram Story, where it’ll remain visible for 24 hours. The Story can also be customized with other options, like a user poll, for example,” explains TechCrunch. And polls are important. How do you decide what to watch without the recommendations of peers, coworkers, and family? Yes, you can read reviews, but a personal endorsement from someone you know is more affecting. A “you have to watch this new show” from your best friend somehow outweighs the opinion of a New York Times critic.
The rise of Instagram Stories invites the question: what other apps will adopt a Share to Stories button? What information will we deem as important enough to share? If Netflix is any indication of what’s to come, nothing is off limits. Stay tuned.
