Hey Netflix, I created a much less adorable version of Caine’s Arcade and I’m looking for my Nirvan.
It’s called Felicity Party. No cardboard. No games. Just a group of Netflix users who virtually meet every Sunday at 8 p.m. ET to watch an episode of Felicity together, using your service and Twitter (@FelicityParty).
But beyond our mutual love for the series, lies even more co-viewing intrigue.
In today’s post-90s world, both Ben Covington (@ScottSpeedmanS ) and Noel Crane (@ScottKFoley) are active Twitter users. Add in comedian Jenny Slate (@JennySlate25), who has proclaimed her love for the series on Twitter, and the potential for an amazing co-viewing experience is apparent.
Co-viewing is still mostly affixed to the first viewing of live content, but given the prevalence of the Netflix service — and its overwhelming library of premium content and the corresponding cult audiences who currently watch it in solitude — Netflix stands to take the lead in this mostly-unexplored category of viewing experience. Until recently, Netflix’s Xbox app offered a video party feature, but it was removed after Xbox stopped supporting it.
Felicity Party is just one example, of course. A new season of Breaking Bad is set to blow our minds this summer, and it’s likely that the poor souls who don’t already assume every fried chicken restaurant is a meth lab front will be chain-streaming the series very soon. And in 2013, it’s predicted we’ll all lose a day for the release of Arrested Development, Season 4. Maybe Netflix can help us plan the start time.
Sure, sometimes it’s convenient to quietly catch up to the rest of the world, but if the internet has showed us anything, it’s that shared experiences – whether with friends or tangible strangers – make it all a little more enjoyable.
So Netflix, what do you think? Party time?
(Jenny McCoy is Lost Remote’s newest writer. She works in social media at Arnold Worldwide with a previous stint at MTV News helping it grow its social presence. Welcome Jenny!)