Netflix Completely Removing Written Reviews From Its Website

One little-known fact about Netflix is that it allows its subscribers to leave written reviews for its TV shows and movies. Sadly, the streaming service has confirmed that it is gradually removing the feature from its website this summer.

The shutdown of the feature will occur in stages. Starting on July 30, users will no longer be able to write their reviews on a TV show or a movie. Sometime in mid-August, users will no longer be able to read existing reviews left by other Netflix subscribers. No specific date was given on when exactly this change will occur.

“We have notified members who have used the feature recently,” Netflix spokesperson Smita Saran said in an email to CNET. “This feature is only offered on the website and has seen declining usage over time.”

For those unaware, Netflix’s review archive is only available on the desktop website. To read or write reviews, users will have to click on a TV show or a movie they want to watch and select “Details.” Members Reviews is located on the right side of the page and clicking on “See All Reviews” will bring users to the archive, according to TechRadar.

The Netflix feature is concealed as though the streaming service didn’t actually want its members to read or write any reviews in the first place. Reviews are also unavailable on the Netflix app for iOS and Android devices, which may have also contributed to the decline of its users over time.

This isn’t actually the first time that Netflix altered a feature that allowed users to leave some sort of feedback on its shows or movies. Netflix used to allow its subscribers to leave ratings for shows and movies with a five-star rating system. Early last year, the streaming service decided to remove that feature and replace it with a simpler thumbs up/thumbs down rating system.

The new “thumbs” rating system is seen by some as being over simplistic, but Netflix says that it saw a 200 percent increase in ratings activity when they first started testing it. The new rating system also allows the streaming service to better understand users’ preference in shows and movies.

Providing better recommendations is something that Netflix believes is important to its subscribers. The written reviews on its website do not actually influence the algorithm that recommends content to its users, and this might be another reason why Netflix has decided to axe it.