Netflix wants you to watch Clips, its TikTok-like vertical video feed
You’ve heard of Instagram Reels — now get ready for Netflix Clips.
Netflix is redesigning its mobile app and introducing Clips, a vertical video feed intended to help users discover new content by sharing highlights from original Netflix programming.
“Think of ‘Clips’ as a personalized highlight reel that helps you decide what to watch or play next, without endless scrolling,” Netflix wrote in a press release. “You’ll see short clips from series, films and specials tailored to your tastes, with an easy way to go deeper when something grabs your attention.”
The idea is that if you’re on the go, you likely aren’t going to pull out your phone to watch the next three minutes of the “Love is Blind” episode you’re on. But you might watch a short, curated clip of another Netflix show for a fast laugh (which is exactly what Netflix named a similar feature, Fast Laughs, in 2021).
We may have rolled our eyes five years ago when every social media platform rushed to release a TikTok copycat feature, but now, even LinkedIn is pushing vertical video on its mobile app. It’s safe to say that vertical video is here to stay.
Netflix, for its part, has experimented for years with how to incorporate short-form video, and the company seems to have settled on Clips.
It’s not just TikTok-like social feeds where vertical video is taking over. The microdrama industry –bite-sized episodic series, typically under 10 minutes per episode, designed to be watched on a phone screen — which first caught on in Asia, is building momentum in the U.S., making users more accustomed to watching serialized stories on vertical feeds.
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