One of the things that people have consumed more of when staying at home due to the global pandemic is video content. Connecting online while watching a show or movie adds a social component to what is otherwise a socially distanced activity. This indeed is the rise of the watch party.
Amazon now decided to make that a component of its Prime Video Service.
Adding another fringe benefit to its Prime membership, Amazon just rolled out the beta version of its Watch Party feature. At a time when movie theaters may still be just a pleasant memory of pre-pandemic life for a lot of us, this is intended to be the next best thing for sharing your viewing experience with others:
“With Watch Parties, you can chat with up to 100 friends while you watch movies and TV shows online together. It’s almost like watching side-by-side in real life — without having to share your popcorn.”
How it works
The host of the Watch Party clicks on the designated icon for the show or movie on the Prime Video site. That in turn delivers a link that can be shared with others who click it to join. Joining in means not just watching but also being able to participate in the built-in chat.
This is great for people who love to direct things because the host has the power to not just select the program but to make it stop for everyone at the point he or she has selected. It’s kind of like being the instructor in a film class when you want to pause to discuss what was just watched. And have students give their opinion on the matter. Cool, huh?
There are some limitations to the watch party, though. At least for now it’s only accessible to Prime members in the United States, and that extends to the participants, as well as the host.
Another downside is that it will work only on desktop browsers but not on Apple’s Safari. It also won’t work on quite a range of devices: Fire TV, smart TVs, game consoles, connected media players, mobile phones, and tablets.
The pre-party
According to the Verge report on Amazon’s partnership with Twitch, it was working on that social experience ahead of the pandemic, back in October 2019. In the interim, though, competitors rolled out their own versions of watch parties this past May.
The Google Chrome extension Scener is behind the social aspect of both Netflix Party, which can accommodate up to 50, and HBO’s “Private Theater” experience, which is limited to 20.
The first to build its own Watch Party feature was Hulu, and that also dates to this past May. The way the Verge describes it is that “it works very much like Amazon’s Watch Party.”
When it comes to video streaming services, it seems like you have to deliver not just the content but the social connection people wish to have centered around that content. And so, in the absence of in-person parties, consumers are seeking a lot more watch parties.