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Content index
We welcome the suggestion arrived on Mastodon to talk about alternatives to Netflix given that in this period many of us are spending a lot of time at home, like it or not!
It immediately seemed like an excellent idea, in fact there are many alternatives to Netflix interesting and which not everyone is aware of. As always, although it is worth remembering, we will not deal with piracy but will only talk about legal methods to watch films and television series. For free or not.
The Social Dilemma
Despite Netflix has recently produced the docu-drama The Social Dilemma, where the problems of social networks are treated with interviews and interesting anecdotes, his privacy policy it is very incomplete. Netflix tends to collect a lot of data and activities.
Information collected automatically: We collect information about you and your use of our Service, your interactions with us and our advertisements, as well as information about your network, your network devices, and your computer or other Netflix-enabled devices that you may use to access our service (such as game consoles, smart TVs, mobile devices, set-top boxes and other streaming devices). This information includes:
Part of the Privacy Policy Of Netflix
Many preferences are collected automatically. For this reason, if you are a user of Netflix, know that a this address you can do opt-out with regards to personalized advertising for example.
Speaking of The Social Dilemma: but how ironic is that the official website of the docu-drama is a site full of Cookies And tracers? See the analysis for yourself Blacklight, Phantom Analyzer and that of Webbkoll. And why then Netflix continue to use the third-party login of Facebook thus allowing tracking 1 2?
Beyond Netflix
In addition to this there is the whole, undoubtedly interesting, history of producing content thanks to big data and statistics. Big data isn't necessarily bad, especially if it's not sold to third parties, but it could be tempting Netflix not to produce something innovative but to give the public what they already know they might like 3 4. It means producing something only because it will have a good market response and not because it is a good product and this is not always a good thing when it comes to cinema and art. It is already known whether or not it will be successful and whether people will watch it when they see it among the recommendations. Not for nothing the 75% of the activity of Netflix it seems to come from personalized advice 5.
In this regard, we suggest the short documentary (8 minutes) by Le Monde translated by Internazionale where all this is explained and also talks, as always when big tech is involved, about dubious tax practices: How Netflix Became an Empire (Video). Thanks for reporting on Mastodon.
Another very interesting article on the subject can be found on The post: How Netflix's policies affect our tastes.
Leaving this aside, however, we know well that it is not possible to separate ourselves from Netflix or from other similar realities if they are the only place where we can find our favorite television series or the film we want to see at that moment.
Alternatives to Netflix
However, we want to offer you some alternatives to Netflix, or sites that perhaps you didn't know about, which still contain excellent films and television series for free or for a fee. Without all the automation and recommendation process used by Netflix.
In short, we want to go back to choosing the product ourselves after an analysis of the contents and we don't want only big data and an AI to suggest to us, more or less covertly, what we should see and how much time we should spend in front of the television or smartphone.
As we highlighted these before alternatives to Netflix they can also simply alongside Netflix and not entirely replace it. Instead of focusing on what he offers you Netflix and its automatic recommendation system, you can try taking a look at these proposals too!
Raiplay
Not everyone knows about it but Raiplay offers an impressive amount of material for free also of quality. The only thing that is required is one free registration (the Rai service is in fact already paid for by the license fee) to the site after which we can finally make sense of the license fee we pay thanks to their gigantic archive of movie, Of products for children and of documentaries. Furthermore, for the nostalgic, there is more or less the entire archive of past broadcasts Rai.
Mediaset Play
The same goes for Mediaset with his Mediaset Play. Products probably more commercial and less niche but very popular! Here too you can find it for free and without any registration entire films, TV shows And cartoons as well as obviously all the replicas of the Mediaset programs.
PeerTube
Open source
L'decentralized alternative to Youtube has a channel with some films no longer protected by copyright: films. For some time there has also been a Search engine for all instances PeerTube where you can try to look for something interesting: Sepia Search.
VVVVID
We have already talked about this site in our article on alternatives to Youtube. VVVVID It's free for anyone who wants to put up with ads. Alternatively you can pay for a subscription to see everything without limits and without ever being interrupted. As an idea it is therefore quite similar to Spotify (which alternatives to Spotify?). There are many movies more or less new but above all it is famous for having a great catalog of Anime. There is also one children's section with the mythical inside That's how we are done!
Arte.tv
Thanks to one your report on Mastodon We also recommend this nice site to watch interesting documentaries subtitled in Italian for free!
Pluto TV
Thanks to one your report on Telegram Let's also add this new free streaming service that is based only on advertising.
Perestroika
The goal of this project is to offer and raise awareness of the most interesting and rare films of Russian cinema. You won't just find style films The battleship Potemkin but also and above all light comedies for the mass audience of the 70s and 80s.
Open Culture
This site, as the name itself says, contains links to take advantage of all the free culture that can be found on the internet! There is a big list of movie (over 1000!) but in addition to these there are also audio book, podcasts And online courses. As we said, the site does not host any content, it is just an archive of external links so it is all free and without registration.
OpenDDB
OpenDDB instead it disseminates works in Creative Commons. To be able to view them a donation is requested of any amount although a minimum donation of €4 per film is recommended. Once you purchase the film will remain at your disposal forever. An internal editorial team promotes independent productions and suggests the most interesting works. A nice method to actively finance culture and artists, especially interesting in this dark period.
Cineteca Milano
There Milan Film Library offers masterpieces for free or for a fee. Practically everything you find in here is worth seeing, there are unmissable pearls such as Trip to the Moon Of Méliès or The emigrant Of Chaplin. To view them in high quality, simply register for free. You can also find paid films (usually from €3 to €5). Unmissable for all cinema lovers.
MUBI
Another platform that offers interesting content at affordable prices (€70 per year). Every day a new film that you can watch on any platform. Their Android app unfortunately contains four tracers 6, but we now know this to be an all too consolidated practice 🤔.
Serially
This site allows you to watch TV series for free thanks to advertising.
I have no TV
If you love documentaries and if you understand English this site is definitely for you! I have no TV it is in fact a collection of documentaries selected and available for free streaming hosted by different platforms.
•Archive
The legendary archive.org collects whatever comes into his hands. Come on video games to the movie! A gigantic archive with over 28 thousand films. There are feature films, short films, documentaries and movie trailers. A large, constantly evolving archive!
- Blacklight on netflix.com[↩]
- Facebook follows you everywhere[↩]
- How Netflix used big data and analytics to generate billions[↩]
- How Netflix Uses Big Data to Build Mountains of Money[↩]
- Netflix Recommendations: Beyond the 5 stars[↩]
- MUBI report on Exodus[↩]
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