David Pogue reported that after the snafu and outrage expressed by its users, Netflix announced that they would NOT be phasing out profiles. I'm not going to go into the back story here for those of you who haven't followed this developing story that presents a great case study of the crossroads that any successful company, particularly those in the online world, will eventually encounter when its larger strategic and product development goals butts head with an engaged (and often enraged) customer base who can utilize the organizational power and mouthpiece allowed by the Internet to express their own opinions--and in some cases, as Netflix discovered, impact a real change. In the case of Netflix, a feature upgrade (or downgrade as many apparently felt) that had been roadmapped for god knows how long was shot down in a less than a month due to customer protests.
I've been thinking about this a lot, that is how do companies, particularly those with a certain loyal if not fanatical customer base, effectively manage their fanboys?
While they are essential to any company, nonetheless a company should not be run by mob rule. In the event of a backlash, when does the company fold their cards and give in to the inmates' demands? And similarly, when should a company stay fast and steady and plow on ahead as scheduled?
I think a great counter example to Netflix is what Facebook experienced when they rolled out their News Feed feature back in the fall of 2006, which was an extremely radical and aggressive update to their site at the time, considering the News Feed effectively took over much of the main page's real estate when one first logged in. There was a tremendous uproar in its aftermath.
"Stalkerish!" "Creepy!" many yelled.
Users planned boycotts.
Anti-News Feed groups were created and joined ad nauseam.
People were upset that information on their personal profile page that they assumed were private would now be broadcast via the News Feed to their entire friends and extended network.
The roll out of the feature wasn't perfect, but Facebook listened to the complaints and rapidly updated it to give users more control over what information they added or updated--relationship status, photos, wall comments, et cetera--would appear on the feed.
The most important take-away lesson here for any company is that, while Facebook did respond to users, what they did NOT do was back down and remove the News Feed, which was what many of its users demanded. Facebook expediently addressed user concerns regarding privacy, but they had the confidence to know that this was a product feature that 1) users would grow to love and 2) was crucial to the growth of its website.
This is an example of a company knowing their user base better than the users themselves. Arrogant yes (Also arrogant? That I italicized that statement--if I was a professor giving a course on modern media, I would scribble this excitedly on the chalkboard and underline it and then wipe all that chalk off on my skinny pants), but sometimes the view from above can reveal some interesting patterns that an individual or a user on the ground might never discern.
Today, the News Feed is inarguably a huge success and it's one of the most compelling and innovative aspects of Facebook that is driving much of its "stickiness" that is, the frequency of user's repeat usage of the site. Its been imitated on other social networks. The product worked because its value became quickly self evident to users.
Conversely, Netflix's decision to remove profiles didn't convey any apparent value to the customer and by all accounts they did not clearly communicate what those values were, if any. Netflix didn't adequately or effectively argue why this was important for the customer now or in the future. Consequently customers inferred that this WASN'T in their interest. Just like Facebook, Netflix is involved in an emotional business: People care about what is happening to their profile pages and people care about movies.
I think Netflix could have had a successful roll out of this IF they had only clearly communicated the intent or broader strategic purpose of this move. Giving up that information is scary for many companies, especially as they become larger and larger, but I think in today's escalating climate of diffused news sources and information networks its also easier for tight lipped companies to lose control over their message and unwittingly promote rumors and gossip that is detrimental to that company.
Ultimately I think Netflix made the right decision in backing down in the face of the pitch forked mob, but it should have never gotten to that point.