Netflix contacted a man to see if he was OK after his viewing habits changed

If you missed it on Monday, online streaming service Netflix sent out a joke tweet about its user base, which was a bit 1984-y.

People, understandably, thought this was an invasive and unfunny joke at the expense of paying users' viewing habits:

A Netflix spokesperson told indy100:

The privacy of our members' viewing is important to us. This information represents overall viewing trends, not the personal viewing information of specific, identified individuals.

 

A reply exchange underneath the tweet was posted to Reddit as a screengrab.

Reddit user u/King-Salamander wrote an anecdote underneath explaining that Netflix's monitoring of users' viewing habits is sometimes not only acceptable but thoughtful as well.

The anonymous account deflected criticism that they were writing on behalf of Netflix:

Finally, I'm not a Netflix shill. I am a barista with $0.78 cents in my checking account.

If I worked for Netflix I'd be making more money than that. In fact, since Futurama moved to Hulu I actually use that service more than any other.

That being said, if anyone from Netflix wanted to hire me, send me a message. I graduate in a year.

The user also added that their mental health has improved:

I'm doing a lot better now! I'll always suffer from depression, as it's a mental illness, but I've learned that it's not about trying to defeat the monster it's about learning how to live with it.

What's that line at the end of Bojack season 2? 'Everyday it gets a little easier, but you gotta do it everyday. That's the hard part. But it does get easier.'

The user also said they were touched by the feedback to the post and the people who had contacted them offering support:

I've actually been incredibly humbled today, you're like the 10th person that's asked if I needed money or pizza or anything.

In all reality, I'm doing just fine. Well enough to still afford Hulu and Netflix after paying the bills and buying food, anyways.

And I have an incredible S.O. [significant other] who I split the cost of living with. It just happens that I'm at the tail end of a pay period right now so I used my laughably low account balance to indicate that I'm not a shill of any sort.

Just a college kid who watches too much television.

So, all's well that ends well, it seems.

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