Netflix is giving its profile icons a long overdue makeover. The company announced this morning it’s replacing the icons it launched five years ago with a new set of updated icons – including those from Netflix’s own shows. Unfortunately, Netflix hasn’t entirely abandoned its old icons, which were never really all that fun. If you still want to be a masked superhero lady or a frowning guy with glasses, have at it. These have just been updated with a little more color. What’s more appealing is being able to choose an icon of a character from one of your favorite Netflix shows.
Shows like Orange is the New Black, Luke Cage, Queer Eye, Stranger Things, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and others are represented among the over 100 new icons rolling out soon.
The change isn’t just about Netflix updating a key feature of its app – it’s also a way for the service to subtly promote its own original programming to users, and help them feel more connected with the shows they do like. After all, when you make your own profile image Eleven from Stranger Things, you’ll be regularly reminded how much you like that show – and watching Netflix in general.
The company regularly experiments with new ways to promote its programming like this – just recently, it begin testing full-screen images from its shows instead of the black background on the login screen, for example. (At the time, we had noted that updated profile icons would be a better choice. Score!)
Netflix also rolled out screensavers last year, and introduced Stories-inspired mobile previews this spring to help better showcase its originals.
Netflix may spend up to $13 billion on original programing this year, according to Fortune. So it makes sense that it would look for any means to introduce its shows to Netflix users in order to get then hooked on its exclusive content, and then keep them subscribed.
The new profile icons are rolling out on the website, mobile, and TV devices over the next few weeks.
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