Netflix Offers U.S. Subscribers Opportunity To Link Accounts With Facebook

This will 'make it easier and more fun to find TV shows and movies to watch and discuss with friends,' Netflix says this morning. Starting today, streaming subscribers in the U.S. can add 'Friends' Favorites' and 'Watched by your friends' rows to their search screens. They can choose whether to share info about the videos they watch just in Netflix, or to also add Facebook. By the end of this week, Netflix says the social network tie-ins will be available to all of its U.S. members. The features have been available in other countries for more than a year; Congress' amendment in January to the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act made it possible to introduce them here. 'There are few better ways to find a movie or TV series you'll love than hearing about it from your friends,' says Tom Willerer, Netflix VP Product Innovation. The company says that members will have to opt in if they want the Facebook integration: They can go to 'Social Settings' on Netflix.com to make the change. The company says that by default, 'members share what they watched only on Netflix.' It plans to test features that enable members to 'explicitly share their favorite titles on Facebook and discuss with their friends.' The changes provide Netflix with 'a new opportunity to reach the more than 1 billion people on Facebook,' says Justin Osofsky,  director of the social network company's Platform Partnerships and Operations.

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