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A Peek Into Netflix Queues

Posted by kdawson on from the i-know-what-you-watched-last-summer dept.

margaret writes "The New York Times has an interactive Web app where you can map the popularity of various Netflix titles by neighborhood, in a dozen different cities. Invasion of privacy or harmless voyeuristic fun? Either way, it's pretty interesting."

19 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Re:porn? by dangitman · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm surprised by Debbie Does Dallas being relatively unpopular in Dallas, but quite popular in Houston. Go figure.

    --
    ... and then they built the supercollider.
  2. Interesting relationship by Spykk · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Anyone else notice that Knowing's rank seems inversely proportional to Rachel Getting Married's rank?

  3. Re:This just proves... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can think of so many better things to be doing with my time than looking at what people are renting based on their ZIP code.

    Does whining on Slashdot really count as something better?

  4. Intesting how College area is way off by piltdownman84 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Looking at the Seattle map one interesting thing stands out for me. The rentals in the zip code of Seattle University seems completely different then everywhere else. What is interesting that ' pseudo intellectual' movies that you would think would be more popular, Milk, Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, are relatively low in this area of learning, while mindless movies, Role Models, House Bunny, where the most popular.

    1. Re:Intesting how College area is way off by RU1DT · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Or maybe you're presuming too much about people based on their ZIP code.

    2. Re:Intesting how College area is way off by kannibal_klown · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Looking at the Seattle map one interesting thing stands out for me. The rentals in the zip code of Seattle University seems completely different then everywhere else. What is interesting that ' pseudo intellectual' movies that you would think would be more popular, Milk, Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, are relatively low in this area of learning, while mindless movies, Role Models, House Bunny, where the most popular.

      I don't find it odd.

      It's just anecdotal, but after a stressful day/week of courses and exams I found myself wanting to unwind and relax with a fun and mindless flick instead of a high quality film.

      Don't get me wrong, I would still enjoy cerebral movies back then but not as frequently as a silly comedy or mindless action flick.

      A mindless entertainment was a good way to unwind, plus you could watch it and laugh together with friends.

      ---------------

      I guess it's somewhat like my reading habits. I enjoy reading and do it fairly often now, likewise I read a fair amount back in high school.

      However in college I was already reading every day for multiple hours for my various courses, so the last thing I after I put down my textbook was pick up yet another book.

    3. Re:Intesting how College area is way off by linzeal · · Score: 3, Insightful

      More intelligent poor folk are pirates. Who has money for Netflix when you are living off Ramen and Peanut Butter?

      --
      An Education is the Font of All Liberty
  5. cultural information by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You can use it as an indication of how different regions feel about homosexuality by looking at the rental patterns for Milk (no link, sorry, you'll have to click through the movies until you find it). It was a lot more popular on the west side of the bay than the east side, which also matched voting patterns for proposition 8 (the west side was a lot more strongly opposed to it). In Boston it seems like they are a lot more open minded, except in area code 02126. Don't know what happened there.

    Strangely enough, Milk is in the top 3 movies in San Francisco in every area except the Castro. Try explaining that one if you can.

    --
    Qxe4
    1. Re:cultural information by romiz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Strangely enough, Milk is in the top 3 movies in San Francisco in every area except the Castro. Try explaining that one if you can.

      Compared to other areas, the residents bought the disk, so they don't need to rent it as much?

    2. Re:cultural information by Eric+in+SF · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Everyone in the neighborhood saw it in the theatre and so didn't need to rent it from Netflix.

      We saw it at the Castro theatre about halfway through its total run and it was a full upper balcony sellout. It really was an important film to see as together as a community and I was glad to have taken part in what I felt was a community viewing.

    3. Re:cultural information by StreetStealth · · Score: 5, Interesting

      That's actually really interesting to consider -- You could think of Netflix popularity as a band pass of the full spectrum of movie popularity. Imagine a few graphs for other channels that signify different levels of investment: theatrical viewing and DVD purchase above rental, cable viewing below it, and torrenting at the bottom. Now imagine these distributions overlaid on top of each other. I wonder what that graph would look like...

      --
      Your mind is clear / The things that you fear / Will fade with how much you / Believe what you hear
    4. Re:cultural information by zsimic · · Score: 5, Funny

      And then, you can take it to the next level: stats on which zip code examined which other zip code stats... The possibilities are endless: - which zip code is the most "self absorbed", (ie looked at its own stats) - which zip code is the most popular (stats looked up by other zip codes) - which zip code has the most self-confidence problems (looked at other zip codes' stats more than their own..) - which zip code is the most popular homophobic (stats most looked up by other zip codes, while the renting trend of homo movies is high) - and so on

    5. Re:cultural information by gbjbaanb · · Score: 3, Insightful

      yes, but if you can drag yourself away from your narcissism, you'll find your girlfriend not only loves love stories, but love stories about sad relationships between 2 seriously hot men ('cos the movie-makers are always going to make a story about gay relationships involving 2 muscular cowboys rather than 2 fat nerds), and it also has the added attraction of some man-on-man action.

      So you'd expect homosexual love stories can appeal to heterosexuals. Just like you wouldn't mind going to see 2 hot lesbian chicks fall in love (oh, you've already seen that one, yeah me too ;)

      Also a lot of heterosexual and homosexual people just like movies, sometimes you want something intellectually stimulating even if it has a gender-related subplot you still watch it for the main plot. OK, love stories don't fall into this category so much, but Milk (for example) may have a gay subplot but that's not what the story is about. Just like you can watch Malcolm X in an entirely white neighbourhood.

    6. Re:cultural information by JoeMerchant · · Score: 3, Funny

      You meta-moderate on Slashdot, I can tell.

  6. Re:This just proves... by MarkvW · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Marketing people care. You'd better believe they care!

  7. You're kidding, right? by mforbes · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Invasion of privacy or harmless voyeuristic fun?

    What invasion of privacy? They're not showing what any particular person rented, just what the aggregate in a given area liked. If this is invasion of privacy, then so is any demographic statistic saying, for instance, that New Yorkers like hot dogs from a stand on the street or the baseball stadium over that cooked at home.

    --

    Allegedly real newspaper headline from 1998:
    Man Struck by Lightning Faces Battery Charge

  8. Re:This just proves... by Runaway1956 · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Some people like demographics."

    Apparently, some people like masturbation as well. That doesn't mean they shouldn't get a life.

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  9. No, YOU are kidding, right? by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Any information published about your habits erodes your privacy, whether you see it or not.

    Letter to the Editor @ NY Times:

    Dear Sir,

    I find it highly innappropriate that you have made my personal information available via your website!

    Sincerely,

    Dr. Sanfransisco Bayarea

    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  10. Re:This just proves... by Z34107 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Is there a web site showing the demographics of masturbating?

    Any solid-color map you have ever seen does. The one color represents 100% of the population. These are called relief maps.

    --
    DATABASE WOW WOW