My imaginary children aren't using your streaming service
shkspr.mobi
Whenever I start up Netflix, I'm asked if I want to create an account for my children. I don't have children. I don't want children. I find most children annoying - not yours, obviously, yours are lovely. But I resent being asked every single time whether my imaginary kids want an account. It's just annoying. I can't imagine what it is like for bereaved parents who have recently lost a child. Or for those struggling with fertility issues. That constant reminder every time they try to numb…
  • magnetosphere@fedia.io
    2·
    18 days ago

    Frankly, if a child somehow makes it into my home, and is left unsupervised long enough to work out which of the 7 remote controls turns on the TV and surround sound system, and figures out how to access Netflix - I’d say they’re mature enough to watch whatever they want.

    Gold.

  • Cocodapuf@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    16 days ago

    The worst part is that for most of these services, the child accounts are still functionally useless for parents.

    We have a kid who actively seeks out content they know they’re not allowed to watch, which means unfortunately a Netflix subscription simply won’t work for us because Netflix doesn’t allow you to actually password protect your profiles. So our kid can just select the parent profile, or make a new one if they want to watch whatever they want.

    As far as I know only Disney+ (and HBO i’m told) allow you to put a login pin on parent accounts to lock kids out. That would be useful, except the Roku we use to watch things on the tv doesn’t password protect all of its channels, so we still have to be on top of him to make sure he’s staying within disney+…

    I gotta be honest, I kinda miss cable tv.

  • killeronthecorner@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    18 days ago

    Netflix does this so that (most of) the children’s content appears only in the children’s section. This means you don’t have to sift through 800 versions of cocomelon to find Singles Inferno. They’re literally acknowledging you don’t have children and helping you find the content you want, and simultaneously not preventing you from accessing it when your sisters little crotch goblins come over for a visit.

    Most first-world-problem shit I’ve ever heard.

    • atrielienz@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      18 days ago

      They have 2 good points though (even if I generally agree with you that this is a first world problem). The first is that this will likely show up for parents who have lost a child or potential parents having fertility issues and that does suck.

      The second is that it’s just good UI to add a little box that says “never show this message again”. It wouldn’t take but the smallest iota of extra effort to do that. Annoying popups are honestly a first world problem. But they absolutely also show that these companies do not care, while these companies are trying to show they care.