The world’s biggest OTT platform Netflix has announced to launch its short-form video feature “Fast Laughs” for TV screens. The feature was already available for mobile phones since 2021.
The feed proved to be an effective way to introduce users to new shows, movies, and comedy specials.
The feed of humorous videos reportedly inspired by TikTok debuted a year ago but was previously available only on mobile devices.
The “Fast Laughs” on smartphones, has been given primary importance in the Netflix app, as it’s currently placed at the middle button in the bottom navigation bar. The placement suggests Netflix is trying to level up to its competitors like TikTok, Instagram and Facebook’s Reels.
The “Fast Laughs” feature on mobile, offers a vertical and swipeable video stream with share, and save the material buttons placed on the right side of the screen, just like TikTok.
However, Netflix’s purpose does not aim to create a social platform, but rather, it wants to encourage users to add serials, movies, and specials to their Netflix watch list or to immediately begin streaming a title after seeing a short video teaser.
“Fast Laughs will work a little differently on Netflix’s TV platform. The opt-in feature will begin to appear on members’ homepages, somewhere around rows six through 12,” says Netflix.
In this scenario, the target is to show the short videos to viewers while they scroll down the page looking for something to watch. Instead of the vertical layout, like on the phone version, a tv remote will be used to navigate through the videos, using an arrow on the right side of the screen.
The users will be able to see the program’s name and rating at the bottom of the screen and may opt to click a button labelled “More Info” which will re-direct them to the movie, series or special’s landing page.
