"Spent an Hour Just Deciding What to Watch" Do You Know the 'Netflix Syndrome'?

COVID-19 and Social Distancing Increase OTT Usage
Users Suffer from 'Netflix Syndrome,' Unable to Decide and Only Search or Watch Trailers
Experts Say "More Choices Cause Fatigue... Also Due to Unfamiliarity with Leisure Use"

A user is holding a tablet PC and looking at the Netflix recommendation list. Not related to specific expressions in the article / Photo by Getty Images

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] "I just scroll through the recommended list and then turn it off," "I spend a long time just wondering what to watch."

Among users of streaming (OTT) services like Netflix and Watcha, there is a growing number of people experiencing the so-called 'Netflix Syndrome,' where they spend time choosing movies rather than actually watching them.

Netflix Syndrome is a newly coined term referring to the phenomenon where users have difficulty deciding what to watch, resulting in spending more time searching for content than actually viewing it, or even giving up on watching altogether.

Due to the spread of COVID-19, global OTT usage has been on the rise. According to CNBC and Bloomberg in April, Netflix's worldwide paid subscriber count increased by 15.77 million in the first quarter of this year. Revenue is estimated at $5.76769 billion, a 28% increase compared to the previous year. Netflix is expected to continue its growth trend in the second quarter, with estimated revenue of $6.048 billion.

According to the American business magazine Forbes, Disney Plus saw its subscriber count triple from March 14 to 16 (local time) compared to the previous week, and Netflix's new subscriber count increased by 47% during the same period. Additionally, HBO and Apple TV+ also saw new user increases of 90% and 10%, respectively.

As more users subscribe simultaneously to various domestic and international streaming services such as Wavve, Season, TVING, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu, more people are complaining about Netflix Syndrome. They commonly say, "I spend all my leisure time just watching recommended lists or trailers."

Kang (29), an office worker who has been working from home for a month, said, "The COVID-19 situation was serious, and since I was working from home, I had no particular way to spend time other than watching movies or dramas at home, so I subscribed to Netflix. But there is so much content that I didn't know what to choose."

Kang added, "Just scrolling through the list takes 20 to 30 minutes. Then I click on something thinking I might watch it, but after about 5 minutes, I go back to the recommended list again, repeating this cycle until I end up not watching anything at all. Choosing something is really difficult."

Watching Netflix on TV. Not related to specific expressions in the article. Photo by Getty Images

Some suggest that this phenomenon is driven by a kind of obsession with spending leisure time enjoyably. Trying to make a safe choice that guarantees enjoyment makes the decision even harder.

Kim (27), an office worker who uses Watcha and Wavve, said, "Since the content differs by service, I use both, but I don't really utilize them well. I tend to spend a long time deciding because I want to watch something definitely fun each time."

He added, "After looking through various recommended works for a while, I usually end up choosing dramas or movies I enjoyed before."

Experts say that having too many choices can cause psychological burden and fatigue.

Professor Kwak Geum-ju of Seoul National University's Department of Psychology explained, "The more choices there are, the harder it tends to be to make a decision. Because so many different contents are released, the process of selecting and watching causes excessive fatigue."

She continued, "Also, modern people are not accustomed to enjoying leisure time due to going through competitive societies like entrance exams and employment. Leisure activities have been limited to simple hobbies like just sleeping, listening to music, or reading books. Since people are not practiced or adapted to using leisure time, the increase in leisure time can lead to this phenomenon."

Meanwhile, Netflix plans to introduce a new feature to resolve this issue.

According to IT media The Verge and TechCrunch on the 18th of last month (local time), Netflix is experimenting with a new feature called the 'Shuffle Button.' This service randomly plays content that matches the user's preferences and has been applied first to the Netflix app for TV devices. According to the media, Netflix explained that the feature plays content similar to previously watched titles, content saved in the list, or content that was started but left unfinished.