Netflix, the supposed best streaming service, has been falling behind in recent years. Their outdated library causes subscribers to find themselves spending more time scrolling through their feed than actually enjoying content.

From expensive plans to poor service, many are starting to realize the streaming platform is not as great as it once was. 

A big complaint from Netflix subscribers is the cancellation of fan-favorite shows leading to an outdated content selection. Many have recently expressed their disappointment on social media as the popular shows “First Kill” and “Fate: The Winx Saga” have recently been canceled. Fans were understandably outraged as these shows did quite well.

“Fate: The Winx Saga” is a live-action series based on the famous cartoon “Winx Club.” It follows five fairies attending a magic school called “Alfea” while learning how to navigate the world of magic. When season 2 debuted, the show was on Netflix’s Top 10 for five weeks, placing third overall and holding second place to the most-viewed English-language TV title.

Another series, “First Kill,” also did moderately well, placing in Netflix’s Top 10 for three weeks and collecting 97.6 million viewing hours. “First Kill” is a supernatural teen drama series which follows a teen love story between a vampire and a vampire hunter.

The removal of this show generated complaints from subscribers, as many believed there was a pattern of cancelling queer-led, specifically women-loving-women shows. The fan reaction caused #CancelNetflix to trend on Twitter where many discussed the erasure of LGBTQ+ representation.

Netflix’s cancellation of “The Society” and “Grand Army” led to similar reactions on social media. Many on Twitter and Tik Tok expressed their disappointment with Netflix’s decisions.

Although there are multiple factors that contribute to a renewal or cancellation of a show, Netflix has not been doing themselves any favors for a while now.

With recent controversy over the true crime series “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” Netflix has received a lot of negative feedback. The victims’ families revealed they were not told of the production while it was in the making and received no profit despite the series becoming a major success.

Netflix also revealed that the show was renewed for two more seasons. This leads many to question if Netflix is promoting the glamorization of true crime with this series. These business decisions have raised questions about what the future of the service holds and what direction it may take.

According to Netflix’s own records, they are losing their lead to competitors. Netflix announced on July 19 that the company lost approximately 970,000 subscribers during their 2nd quarter. This is a huge loss compared to the 200,000 that they lost in the first quarter, and it indicates a trend.

Competitors such as Disney are catching up and challenging the monopoly Netflix once held as a streaming service. They recently announced they have over 235 million subscribers, which surpasses Netflix’s 223 million. This is quite a feat in just three years since its launch.

On November 3, Netflix released their $6.99 monthly ad plan. This was a desperate attempt to compete with competitors like Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max who already offer cheap ad plans to gain subscribers.

Available in all of North American and seven other countries around the world, this plan costs $6.99 a month with 720p/HD video quality and has four to five minutes of unskippable ads each hour.

Although this seems appealing since it would allow those who want to pay less to use the streaming service, the plan has a less well-known downside of excluding some TV shows and movies available on other plans. “New Girl,” “The Good Place,” “The Last Kingdom,” “Oblivion” and “Rambo” are among those not included in this plan.

Also, by removing hit shows like “Criminal Minds” off the platform, many subscribers find themselves having very limited options on the platform as Netflix’s library becomes less profitable.

As the wave of complaints continues to grow, many subscribers are being pushed away from Netflix services. The platform reached their prime during the 2020 pandemic and now they are struggling, relying on hit shows like “Stranger Things” to stay relevant.

Over time, the platform is slowly destroying themselves with terrible marketing decisions. It is only a matter of time before their competitors permanently knock them off their throne.