The Platform Identity Crisis
For years, Netflix knew exactly what it was: the place for storytelling. Whether you wanted prestige TV, a guilty-pleasure rom-com, or a moody documentary about cults, it was all about immersion. You pressed play to escape real life.
Video podcasts are the opposite of escape. They’re static. Talking heads, minimal editing, recycled opinions. It’s fine background noise, but not what people go to Netflix for.
This move feels less like strategy and more like survival. Streaming competition is brutal, production costs are high, and attention spans are short. Podcasts are cheap to produce and easy to fill catalogs with. The problem? They don’t make Netflix more interesting. They make it more replaceable.
When Every Platform Becomes Every Other Platform
It’s the same pattern everywhere: TikTok adds 30-minute videos, YouTube copies TikTok with Shorts, Spotify adds video podcasts, Netflix adds live sports and talk shows. Everyone’s chasing each other’s homework.
The irony is that all this “innovation” makes platforms less distinct. We used to know what we were logging into. TikTok was chaos. YouTube was community. Netflix was story. Now it’s all one endless scroll of talking faces and studio lights.
And for audiences, the fatigue is real. We don’t need more content. We need better content. The kind that surprises you, that feels like someone cared.
What People Actually Want From Netflix
If I open Netflix, I want worlds. I want characters. I want to get lost in great content.
That was the promise - a platform that could transport you. Lately, it feels more like the world’s biggest waiting room TV, looping clips until you stop scrolling.
This isn’t to say Netflix shouldn’t experiment. Experimentation is how we got Black Mirror and BoJack Horseman. But there’s a difference between creative risk and algorithmic panic.
Video podcasts aren’t a bold leap into the future. They’re a way to save money while pretending to innovate.
The Real Opportunity They’re Missing
If Netflix truly wants to expand, it could invest in interactive storytelling, user-generated story worlds, or even collaborative content creation tools - things that utilize technology to deepen connections with viewers.
Instead, they’re turning to a format that’s already oversaturated and creatively stagnant. Every influencer already has a podcast. Every platform already hosts them. The last thing the world needs is another place to watch two people discuss burnout while selling you supplements.
Netflix used to lead cultural conversation. Now it feels like it’s chasing trends that peaked two years ago.
Streaming Fatigue Is Real
We’re reaching a point where every app wants to be everything. And in trying to please everyone, they’re all becoming the same. The more features they add, the less identity they have.
For Netflix, the danger isn’t losing viewers to competitors. It’s losing meaning. People don’t love brands that blend in. They love platforms that stand for something. And Netflix’s brand was always about story. Emotion. Discovery. Those things don’t come from adding microphones - they come from giving creators space to make something new.
So no, I don’t want podcasts on Netflix. Not because podcasts are bad, but because Netflix deserves to be better than “fine.”
It should be the place that makes us feel something, not just another background tab we forget to close.