Even with the public relations beating it’s taken since announcing their “down with DVD mailings” price changes, the popularity of Netflix is hard to ignore. People love their movies, and thanks to non-slacking work of Slacktory, we now have a better idea people’s favorite movies in different locations around the United States.
To create their map, Slacktory simply studied Netflix’s list of Local Favorites, which allows members to sort these lists by states and the cities within them. For instance, when Kentucky is selected, the user can then choose an area with a respectable population. In Kentucky, cities and towns like Ashland, Bowling Green, Fort Campbell, Paducah and Richmond are included with Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky’s two most populated areas. Surprisingly, however, Frankfort, Kentucky’s capital, is not an available choice on the drop down selection.
Clearly, it’s population that drives these choices, regardless if the area being left out is the state capital.
After researching their project, Slacktory mapped their findings, giving us a look at what areas like which movies. Because multiple locations were used per state, seemingly, anyway, the visualized information is packed tight, and if you aren’t a geography ace, you might not be sure which area belongs to the listed movie. If in doubt, simply overlay a segmented United States map over Slacktory’s, and it’ll make more sense. As for the map in question:
Click to enlarge
Some highlights include the southern portion of Texas liking The Alamo, while the Seattle area still like Singles. Meanwhile, some people in Kansas really like What’s The Matter With Kansas, although, the Wizard of Oz is not listed anywhere in the state.
There’s a question concerning the accuracy, or at least the areas Slacktory used. For instance, if you select “Lexington, Kentucky” over at Netflix, Raintree County is the most popular movie, while Pocahontas is the selection in Louisville. Neither are listed for the area Kentucky resides on Slacktory’s map. Instead, Roots, Elizabethtown, Army of Darkness, and Best in Show represent the Kentucky area.
Perhaps they searched using zip codes instead of the cities available in the Netflix drop-down list. What about your area? Does Slacktory’s research and subsequent map give an accurate representation of the favorite movies of Netflix members in your location? Let us know what you think.