To quote NetFlix: "Friends is a feature on the Netflix Web site that’s been used by less than two percent of all subscribers since we added the feature in 2004."
That strikes me as a wholly adequate explanation.
That strikes me as a wholly adequate explanation.
I guess I'd like to know more about "active" users, and social features.
Also... in 2010 it's just super surreal in a domain as vast as "movies," to not have deep social features to help people manage and discover.
I'm buying the OP's suggestion that Friends was turning up tons of recommendations that you can't stream (that part is the studios' fault, not Netflix's), and it was leading to a lot of dead-end experiences.
But I just really don't buy that Netflix's longterm strategy is to get less social. They are too ahead of the curve, and too smart to think/do that.
My personal theory is that they are overhauling Friends and social in general, behind the scenes.
I suspect what's really happened here is that whatever internal group was responsible for Friends as decided to hide their failure to make it work behind a screen of "no one wants it".