“Netflix, I love you!”: Emotional capital in the relationship between the streaming company and its fansumers

Abstract

In this article, we analyze the relationship established between Netflix and users of the streaming service in the company’s official social media pages, through the perspective regarding the use of the so-called “emotional capital”. More than just mere consumers, subscribers manifest behaviors and forms of proximity that resemble practices usually associated with the fan’s universe. The streaming business, on its own, also incorporates many strategies to foster closeness that have been identified as a plea of this type of capital, through a mobilization of aspects concerning the universe of TV series’ fans. We investigate the company’s strategy and these fansumers’ engagement in the context of a highly competitive television market, emphasized by a large consumption and circulation of television serial fiction.

Keywords: Netflix, fansumers, cultural consumption, social media, emotional capital.