Netflix will kill its 5-star rating system in favor of 'thumbs-up, thumbs-down' ' here's why (NFLX)

Netflix will replace its five-star rating system with a "thumbs up, thumbs down" one in the coming weeks, the company told reporters Thursday.Last January, Netflix CPO Neil Hunt told Business Insider that Netflix wanted to do away with the stars, since it considered them a poor method of understanding what shows and movies people liked.The problem, Hunt said at the time, is that people subconsciously try to be critics. When they ratea movie or show from oneto five stars, they fall into trying to objectively assessthe 'quality,' instead of basing the stars on how much'enjoyment' they got out of it.Here's an example. Let's say you had fun watchinga crappy movie, but still gave it a two-star rating because you know it's not a "good" film. That presents Netflix with a problem. The system thinks you hated the movie.Hunt told Business Insider that the two methods Netflix was tinkering with werea simple 'like/dislike signal' and some form of 'percent match.'Now, according to NetflixVP of productTod Yellin, they will introduce both. (Netflix confirmed this to Business Insider.)For ratings, you'll have the option for thumbs-up or thumbs-down, which Yellin saidyielded 200% more ratings than stars. Shows will also display a match rating, which will showhow closely it aligns with a user's taste. Shows with less than a 50% match won't have the percentage shown, according to Variety.SEE ALSO:Netflix just launched in 130 more countries, and the stock is soaringJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: Cable channels are speeding up 'Seinfeld' reruns to squeeze in more commercials
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