How well do you know that buddy/significant other/family member that you’re watching your Netflix show with? Maybe the question is… how well do you think you know them?
Because they could be cheating on you right now, by. Watching. Ahead.
Apparently, Netflix, ever looking for new ways to to understand the habits of its user base, has been studying the numbers on “Netflix adultery,” the phenomenon where one member of a show-watching partnership just can’t wait until the next Netflix night and watches ahead without their partner. Then they either fake their reactions to the plot twists they’ve already seen, or tearfully confess. From NY Mag:
Of those who cheated, 66 percent did so “at home by themselves on the main TV.” A shocking 21 percent confessed to watching in bed while their significant other slept… Forty-one percent of cheaters refrained from revealing spoilers; 12 percent would rewatch and “fake it” in their reactions; 14 percent felt so guilty they confessed to cheating.
Men ages 18-34 are more likely than women of the same to say that they’d totally cheat on their TV partner, by a margin of 20%, a fact that I assure you I take no pride in reporting, and a 51% majority of married folks said they would even commit Netflix adultery on their own spouses. Speaking as someone with a lot of close friendships spread over long distances, in a perfect world this sort of research would lead to a Netflix service that allowed you to sync your replaying with someone else’s Netflix account, remotely, so that you could both watch the same show without awkward countdowns and synced pauses, even if you can’t be in the same room that night.
The good news about all these numbers is that the actual percentage of Netflix cheaters is pretty low: 12%. However, only 10% of the folks Netflix polled said that they’d been the victims of Netflix adultery. I ask all our readers: what if that 2%… IS YOU.
(via NY Magazine.)
