Netflix: The Future Is Now?
Patrycja Włodek
patrycja.wlodek@gmail.comPedagogical University of Krakow (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3727
Abstract
The aim of the article is to analyze the history and relevance of Netflix in the context of the changes in the audiovisual market that have taken place in the 21st century, as well as the evolution of audience participation. The author focuses on such aspects as the platform’s dominant role in the streaming boom, it’s self-narration as a technology company rather than a media company, the role of algorithmisation in targeting by using controversial practices (data mining). The article highlights the impact of Netflix on the way audiovisual content is produced and distributed throughout the entertainment industry, as well as its branding strategies in terms of both the technological aspect and the type of content promoted. The author raises questions about Netflix’s role as a catalyst for change and the nature of that change, especially in a broader perspective that sees Western entertainment production not as a set of cultural texts, but as the effect of business and technological processes in a specific socio-cultural context.
Keywords:
Netflix, streaming, convergence, streaming platforms, algorithmization, big dataReferences
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Authors
Patrycja Włodekpatrycja.wlodek@gmail.com
Pedagogical University of Krakow Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4019-3727
Associate Professor at the Pedagogical University of Krakow, Jagiellonian University graduate (film studies and sociology); she specializes in the history of American cinema. Film critic and author, contributor to many magazines, periodicals, and books. Author of the books „Wszystko noir?”. O inspiracjach i wariantach – życie po życiu filmu noir [“All Noir?”: On Ispirations and Variants – The Life After Life of Film Noir] (2022),“Świat był przemoczoną pustką”. Czarny kryminał Raymonda Chandlera w literaturze i filmie [“The World Was a Wet Emptiness”: Raymond Chandler, Hard-boiled Fiction and Film Noir] (2015) and Kres niewinności. Obraz i upamiętnienie ery Eisenhowera w amerykańskich filmach i serialach – pomiędzy reprezentacją, nostalgią a krytycznym retro [The End of Innocence: Depiction and Commemoration of the Eisenhower Era in American Cinema and Television – Representation, Nostalgia and Critical Retro] (2018).
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