Netflix’s newest feature should appeal to children of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s like never before. The streaming video giant has announced Flixtape, a mixtape-influenced feature which allows viewers to create and share playlists of TV shows and films with friends and online acquaintances.
In addition to allowing subscribers to create their own Flixtapes, the company has also created numerous pre-made video playlists for its users. Options include “Besties or Frenemies,” “Kiss and Tell,” and “Family Reunion,” among others.
For those who have long awaited to turn friends and family members onto their favorite new shows and movies with ease, this app can scratch that itch.
That said, the functionality of Flixtapes is unlike that of most traditional digital-era playlists. Rather than queue up hours of video for each list, Netflix’s new feature simply lists and previews each film or show on the Flixtape site, requiring users to actually view them via its normal web app.
When creating one’s own mixtape of video media, users pick a title (or click on a Netflix-added button labeled “inspire me”) to generate a theme. An internal algorithm interprets the name that was input, matching shows and films relevant to the title. From there, users can remove or replace things that don’t tickle their fancy or seem relevant, curating a personal playlist of flicks in the process.
Flixtape curators then pick a cover photo to go along with their new video playlist, before choosing whether to put a “to” or “from” on the list, and share it via social media or email — a clever homage to the Sharpie-and-cassette days of old.
For now, it appears the feature will be available every day, not just on the newly dubbed Flixtape Friday, so users should have plenty of time to encapsulate their deepest, most embarrassing emotions in video playlist form. And they won’t need a clunky boombox to do so.
