Netflix: Uncover Hidden Categories

There is no denying the fact that Netflix has changed the way people watch movies and TV shows. No longer do we need to go to Blockbuster to rent DVDs or wait for some interesting movie to be shown on television.  No more waiting a week between episodes of your favorite show. Today, it’s simply a matter of firing up your browser or turning on your streaming device, logging on to Netflix and watching whatever it is that catches your fancy.

Tons of people are doing it too, did you know that Netflix use alone accounts for 33% of Internet traffic?

With that being said.  there is still a gnawing flaw with the way Netflix operates that stops many people from getting the most out of it. Namely, being able to find interesting movies and TV shows with ease.

Have you ever noticed how the main screen of your Netflix account always seems to show the same bunch of movies and TV shows as recommendation? Or how if you watch something from a particular genre all the new recommendations seem to be only from that specific niche?

The latter is a situation that can quickly get out of hand when you share a single Netflix account with your family members. All it takes is for your 7-year-old to watch a few episodes of Peppa Pig and suddenly Netflix seems to think that all you are interested in are cartoon shows.

When it comes to finding stuff to watch, many of us choose to find new content by browsing through the Netflix categories, but lets face it- those default categories are not particularly exhaustive and it takes considerable browsing through them before you are able to find something interesting or something new. In most cases, unless you really know what exactly is it that you want to watch, you will be fairly disappointed.

So how is it that you can get the most out of Netflix? How can you find hidden gems that Netflix seems hell bent on burying underneath the generic, popular titles? There are 3 different ways for you to get to the bottom of it.

Expanding categories using a browser extension

Netflix Super Browse is a free browser extension (available for Chrome and Firefox) that adds a new menu item to the regular Netflix menu, which allows you to explore all the hidden categories that Netflix does not show you by default. These hidden categories are really specific and help you save a lot of time when it comes to finding something to watch. All you have to do is to install the Chrome or the Firefox version, depending upon your browser of choice and a whole world of moving pictures opens wide up for your pleasure.

If you have really specific interests then you can take this one step further and go through this exhaustive list of Netflix categories that can help you narrow down your search further and even help you find new genres of interest. The list might look huge at first but if your tastes are eclectic and you’re interested in watching things ranging from Belgian crime dramas to BAFTA winning films then that list is for you. Clicking on a category on this page will take you directly to the Netflix page that will list all the genre titles in order.

Tomorrow in part 2 of this article, I’ll have even more ways to make finding great programming on Netflix easier.

~ Yogesh