How I trick Netflix into giving me the best recommendations for things I’ll actually watch

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Like many of you, I spend quite a bit of my free time ignoring friends, family, and the outdoors in exchange for the sweet, glowing comfort of streaming entertainment. While HBO Max has been a great addition to the lineup, Netflix is still the go-to most of the time.

The thing about Netflix, however, is that its algorithm can take you on some wild journeys. As our own Joe Rice-Jones notes, “You watch 50,000 thrillers with spies in, and you watch one f*cking anime…” Which is 100% correct. While the algorithm can be helpful in finding content, it always feels like it is one show or movie away from serving you content that is not relevant.

Well, I have a simple trick that I’ve been using to help keep my recommendations in order, while giving me a better way to find new things to watch, depending on my mood. So, you know how Netflix allows you to have five individual profiles per account? If you’re like me – lonely as all hell – you probably only have one or two profiles in use.

Use those extra Netflix profiles to keep your recommendations in order

Image: KnowTechie

What I’ve been doing for the last handful of years is dedicating different accounts for different purposes. I have my main account, which is literally just whatever. It’s a plethora of random recommendations, but sometimes, that’s what I want. I have another profile for more mainstream, blockbuster type content, and finally, I have a profile for anime.

This way, depending on my mood, I can fire up a profile and have recommendations catered to my mood. It’s not a perfect system, but it has worked for me so far.

Adding to this, I’ve even started completely redoing this system, in hopes of improving my recommendations even further. To do this, I’m nuking the blockbuster account and adding new profiles for “Movies” and “Series.” This way, depending on if I want to watch a movie, or dive into a new series for six hours on a Wednesday night, the recommendations should be even more relevant than they currently are. Sadly, you can’t actually nuke recommendations and start over on your main profile, so my Movies category (previously my main profile) will take some work, but it will be worth it in the long run.

Overall, it’s a small hack to improve your Netflix experience, but if you are like me, and find yourself spending more time scrolling through the platform than, you know, actually watching things, you might find this little trick to be helpful, as well. Now, if only Netflix would allow us to rearrange profiles.

What do you think? Do you have any Netflix tips for better recommendations? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Josiah Motley

Former KnowTechie editor.