Sign up for a free recipe e-book →

Clarissa's Blog

How I Lost My Netflix

Published by

Clarissa

on

Somebody stole my Netflix account. The bastard changed my credit card to his immediately, so I have no idea why he’d want my account in the first place. But that’s what happened. He locked me out and I couldn’t regain access. All I could do was cancel it completely and start a new one.

As a result, Netflix no longer has my history of viewing. It recommends the saddest, sorriest crap to me, such as a movie (or a documentary or a series, whatever) about Megan Markle and Prince Harry. Poor N who also uses my account has no idea who these individuals even are, and I’d like to keep him innocent if their existence. Yet there they are, constantly thrust into our faces.

A large variety of shows about lonely, embittered middle-aged women is now being recommended to me. I never knew this was such a popular genre. As the mother of a first-grader, I’m living the life of somebody much younger, so the struggles of the women who are lonely and unneeded do not resonate.

8 responses to “How I Lost My Netflix”

  1. bluebird of bitterness Avatar
    bluebird of bitterness

    Netflix keeps trying to get me to watch that ghastly Megan and Harry thing. I’m not sure what there is in my viewing history that would make them think that sort of bilge would appeal to me…

    Like

    Reply
    1. cliff arroyo Avatar
      cliff arroyo

      “not sure what there is in my viewing history”

      You have a subscription… they spent a lot of money on the pair and they want their investment back. I don’t think it’s any deeper than that.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. bluebird of bitterness Avatar
        bluebird of bitterness

        Yeah, you’re probably right.

        Like

        Reply
  2. methylethyl Avatar
    methylethyl

    I just deleted my Goodreads because it wouldn’t stop recommending me gay romance novels.

    Weirdly, the books these recommendations were ostensibly “based on” were not things I have ever read, rated, or even looked at, and there was no way to remove them from my virtual “shelf” because they weren’t actually listed there. So… not even a case of the account being hacked. Looked very much like stealth marketing on the console end of things. Does that kind of marketing actually work? I mean, don’t people notice?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    1. Pen Avatar
      Pen

      I like StoryGraph a lot better. Much less intrusive, much less social media-esque, and it uses the four doorways (character, wordbuilding, plot focus, and pace) to identify actual similar books for their recommendations. It’s definitely more reader-centric than Goodreads has become.

      Like

      Reply
      1. methylethyl Avatar
        methylethyl

        I’ll take a look. Have been getting a definite whiff of pay-to-play from GR lately, and suspect that there are a bunch of self-published authors on there (nothing against them– there are even a few I like!) who are paying for placement in the recommendations. Which makes the recommendations pretty useless.

        Like

        Reply
  3. AcademicLurker Avatar
    AcademicLurker

    Years ago I watched Downfall on Netflix, and based on that one movie their algorithm decided that I must have an overwhelming obsession with all things Hitler/Nazi related. For weeks afterwards it was suggesting obscure documentaries with titles like “The Shocking Secrets of Hitler’s Hairdresser!”.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. Post Alley Crackpot Avatar
    Post Alley Crackpot

    You wouldn’t happen to have upgraded a hardware device and thrown out an old one?

    Especially an old one you didn’t disassemble to remove the NVRAM or flash memory?

    Doubly especially an old player box, an old phone, an old flash drive, or an old SSD that you’d considered irretrievable?

    You wouldn’t believe how easy it is to lift credentials from any of them.

    Here we have a Blender of Doom to destroy the chips pulled from these devices physically.

    We used to have a modified Microwave of Doom, but my girlfriend nearly set the work room on fire by trying to use it like a microwave rather than as a vastly more powerful electronic device destroyer.

    The Microwave of Doom made less of a mess in the work room as well as for electronics recyclers who scavenge valuable metals from the boards.

    At least she’s been warned now about a certain “high yield medical device” in the safe.

    No Dee Dee in Dexter’s Laboratory vibes here, no no no.

    The hobbies here are dangerous enough without experiments on top of those. 🙂

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment

A conservative literary critic and college professor

Recent posts