Watch Parties: an opportunity or a trend in decline?

Watch Party is a trend that emerged with the pandemic and consists of: it allows groups of people to watch together, online, movies and other video content on their favorite social media platforms. It allows them to choose the show or movie they want to watch, share the link with their friends or family and through a group chat, which appears on the same screen where the content is streamed, they can share opinions and talk to each other.

By the end of June 2020, nearly one-fifth of U.S. adults over the age of 18 had participated in a Watch Party, according to market research firm Maru/Matchbox. Nearly two-thirds of those who had hosted Watch Parties said they had had one in the past month.

Watch Party in the most popular applications

Netflix

This feature is known in the app as “Netflix Party”. A Netflix account is required, but it can only be streamed through a Chrome browser and only from a computer.
Facebook
This option is no longer available on this platform, but it was very useful and very successful during the pandemic. They were created from “News feed” or timeline, in a group, page or from any video you are watching.

Facebook
Amazon Prime Video

In the app it is called “group video”. It allows you to chat with up to 100 people. If you want to make a group video, it asks you for a name that will appear in the chat, you share the chat link and choose the content to watch.
Twitch
They can only be done through Amazon Prime Video. Therefore, you will need an account with this service. Within Twitch, in our streaming manager and in “Creator Dashboard” we add the Watch Party option to the quick actions, and for its use it will ask us for the Amazon Prime account and from here, follow the same process explained above in the Prime Video platform.

Twitch

TV viewing parties were a big hit during the months of confinement, in 2020. This feature was very useful and almost every platform wanted to implement it in their services. These new and recent behaviors are being researched throughout by technology developers and M&E companies to find out if the emerging trends are likely to continue after the pandemic subsides and people start spending less time at home.

Today, most digital platforms have this feature implemented, as is the case with HBO Max, but its use is not paramount. The most current news, in 2022, are new features of this service, such as Prime Video, which has implemented the function on televisions. Previously it was only available in web browsers.

But, it should be noted, there are no news and reports with new updates in use. What gives us more clue that this service has declined is that Facebook removed in 2021 this tool from its social network, because of the low usage it had.

The more TV offerings there were during the confinement in 2020, the more solitary was the practice of watching series or movies, especially for viewers who consume on-demand content and digital platforms. But this feeling changed with the popularization of the Watch Party modality, and it was a great success among the new generations to socialize with friends and family.

Friends celebrating birthday online flat vector illustration

Being aware of the new emerging trends in the industry is very important and at Optiva Media we are continuously alert to the changes in the industry.

If you want to know more about the latest developments do not miss our post about the metaverse: The metaverse: an introduction to the future.