Plex has come a long way from being just a personal media server. In recent years, it has morphed into a streaming hub, now featuring ad-supported content and movie rental options.
Now the company is aiming to compete with social networking platforms like Reddit and Letterboxd: On Wednesday, Plex unveiled several social features aimed at changing the way users interact with the platform.
Notable among these is Discussions, a community forum where users can post comments and talk about movies or TV shows. Plex is likely hoping that this forum will create a dedicated space that will challenge Reddit’s dominance when it comes to community discussions of movies and shows.
The company said it has built a moderation system that uses a mix of artificial intelligence and human input to control both visual and written content.
Another new feature is Lists, which allows users to create, manage and share lists of their favorite movies and shows, react with emojis instead of simple star ratings and share images. Later this year, Plex will add the ability to import existing lists from other platforms and allow users to react and comment on their friends’ lists. Letterboxd and IMDb offer user-generated listings.
In addition, Plex is adding a new Match Score feature that predicts how much a user might enjoy a particular title based on their viewing habits and preferences.
“It looks at the things you watch and how you rate them and turns that into a simple percentage that tells you how closely a title aligns with what you tend to enjoy,” co-founder and chief product officer Scott Olechowski told TechCrunch. “The idea is to take the guesswork out of discovery, so instead of scrolling endlessly, you get a quick, personal read on whether something is likely to be right for you.”
The platform also adds Notifications that will notify users of new activity related to lists, movies, shows and film professionals they follow.
Lists are currently available to all Plex users, and Discussions is set to launch this month. Other features will be released throughout the year.
The new features aim to create a community-driven content discovery experience, allowing users to share recommendations, compare opinions and connect with their favorite shows and movies.
“People are spending more time finding what to watch than ever before, and we’re seeing viewers increasingly turn to friends, creators and communities they trust for recommendations. Discovery has become a shared experience, and we believe the products people use to find entertainment should reflect that,” added Olechowski.
The new features come as Plex grapples with an increasingly competitive entertainment landscape where streaming companies and social media platforms compete for people’s attention. Netflix and Disney+ have even released short-form video content within their apps in an effort to foster daily engagement.
This isn’t Plex’s first foray into social networking. In 2023, the company launched “Discover Together,” which allowed users to create profiles and track their friends’ viewing activities. Last year, Plex introduced public user profiles and reviews.
However, it is important to note that this update also coincides with an important one price increase for Plex’s Lifetime Plex Pass, which will cost $749.99 starting July 1st. The surprising increase certainly caught the attention of users, especially since Plex just last year raised the price of the Pass from $119.99 to $249.99.
Plex currently boasts over 42 million monthly active users in over 180 countries and territories.
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