ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on domestication theory to account for major transformations in contemporary Internet-distributed television. It posits the notion of “mutual domestication” to capture a parallel movement: how users incorporate Netflix into their daily life and how Netflix seeks to turn users into ideal consumers through recommendation algorithms. Findings come from a study that involved in-depth interviews with Netflix users in Costa Rica and an inductive analysis of their practices and profiles on the platform. This chapter discusses five dynamics through which mutual domestication occurs: personalisation (how a specific or “personal” relationship is established between users and the Netflix “Other”); integration (how users integrate algorithmic recommendations into a matrix of cultural codes, which Netflix constantly seeks to influence); rituals (the spatial and temporal processes in daily life around which user practices and algorithmic recommendations are organised); conversion (the transformation of the private consumption of the platform into a public issue); and resistance (the disputes around Netflix’s operation as a site for both users and algorithms to enact agency). The conclusion elaborates on the challenges posed by this case to traditional understandings of people’s agency in domestication theory.
