When users log in to their accounts, they are greeted by different categories, with “Recommended For You” being one of the important ones to personalize an individuals experience.
However, it’s not a foolproof system, and occasionally you can get things not to your taste popping up.
Relatives may have logged in to your account and binged a documentary series, the kids might have watched their favorite cartoons, or you might have watched loads of romcoms with an ex, and they are no longer to your satisfaction.
Whatever the reason, sometimes the Netflix algorithm gets it wrong. Here’s how you can go about recalibrating your account, to get Netflix and its recommendations back on track.
How Netflix Listens to You
Netflix monitors your viewing habits, so it will present you with TV and movie choices reflecting genres, age-ratings and actors that the company thinks are your favorites.
Behind the scenes, Netflix uses artificial intelligence and machine learning models to monitor what you watch, for how long and when.
The learning algorithms can be swayed if somebody else takes control of your account, or if you decide to watch something out of the ordinary, even just the once.
How to Influence the Netflix Algorithm
If you’re not happy to pick up what Netflix is suggesting, you can do a number of things to change things.
Viewing History
If you think one or a number of shows is causing Netflix to suggest the wrong things to you, then you can delete parts of your viewing history.
To do this, simply log on to Netflix.com on a web browser, click on your profile icon, then account. Carry on to Profile & Parental Controls, then Viewing Activity, where you’ll be presented with a detailed list of everything your account has watched on Netflix.
If you see the movie or TV show you watched which you think is skewing your “Recommended For You” list, click the Hide button to remove it. Netflix will then recalculate your algorithm accordingly.
Ratings
You can also go through and change the ratings that you gave certain shows or movies. You’re often asked if something was “Not for me,” “I like this” or “Love this!” If you’ve rated something incorrectly, Netflix can assume you want more or less of something.
If you want to check on your previous ratings, again go to Profile & Parental Controls, then select View, then select Ratings. You’ll see everything you have ever rated here, and if something seems incorrect, re-rate it.
Start Over
Alternatively, if you want to start afresh, and begin your Netflix journey all over again, simply create another profile.
When your Netflix boots up, you can either log in under an existing profile, or add a new user. You can also delete your old profile by clicking Manage Profiles when you hover over your profile icon. This is also how you remove or lock out users you don’t want on your Netflix anymore.
