Online watch parties booming as we seek personal connection

Streaming applications enjoy surge in popularity for lockdown-weary fans

Few things have lifted Rojhan Paydar’s spirits during the COVID-19 pandemic quite like a Netflix watch party.

Isolated inside her home, the Toronto resident is too often short on social opportunities and long on streaming options. So, like many people, she’s recreated the experience of watching Netflix with friends through an unofficial web browser application called Teleparty, formerly known as Netflix Party.

It’s been an opportunity for Paydar to gather with pals on a virtual couch while they gasp over the twists of true crime series “Unsolved Mysteries.” Even more often, she’s used the app with her boyfriend for date nights watching the dysfunction unfold on “Tiger King” and other bingeable series.

“Sometimes we’d eat dinner and set up our webcams to see each other,” she said. “Knowing he was there and we were doing something in real time, it felt really good and made me less lonely.”

Not long ago, viewing party technology was a tool reserved for unique situations: a longdistance couple or fans of a niche TV series searching for like-minded people.

But a year into the pandemic, weekly rituals have evolved and online watch parties have proven many of us are desperate for some semblance of connection.

As the winter months stretch on and strict stay-at-home orders grip large parts of the country, observers say the watch party, and apps that help make it happen, are due for a second wave of popularity.

“I think we may have seen a cultural shift,” suggested Daniel Keyes, associate professor of cultural studies at UBC. “The pandemic and the fact we had to self-isolate totally accelerated it. It made it more mainstream.”

For younger generations raised on YouTube and Twitch, watch parties are already part of the zeitgeist. Everyone else, including streaming giants themselves, seems to be playing cultural catch-up.

Last year, as the pandemic wore on, Amazon Prime Video introduced group chat elements into the laptop version of its platform. Disney Plus took a more restrained approach with a feature that allows up to seven people to sync their screens but only communicate through emojis.

Other streamers, such as Netflix and Crave, have so far chosen not to launch social elements on their platforms.

For years, upstart tech companies launched second-screen watch party innovations and most failed miserably. That left the door open for the latest generation of alternatives to capitalize on filling the void, among them TwoStream, a paid monthly watch party option, and Syncplay, which is free.

One of the most ambitious newcomers is Scener, a venture-funded operation out of Seattle that currently supports the likes of Netflix, Disney Plus, Vimeo and horror platform Shudder.

In a few clicks, viewers can react to a show through their webcam or type out thoughts on their keyboard.

Co-founder Joe Braidwood said replicating the in-person experience, in particular, “the laughter, the screams and the horror,” was a goal of his company long before the pandemic. But it wasn’t always easy getting others to see the value.

“Two years ago I would talk to investors about social TV and they would laugh at me,” he recalled over a Zoom chat. “They told me, ‘People don’t want social experiences when they’re watching television.’ But all you need to do is look on Twitter.”

Even before the pandemic, he said, people were engaging over social media platforms about their favourite shows. Now, since everyone’s holed up in their homes, Scener’s growth has been exponential.

Cumulative weekly minutes of programming watched grew nearly 42,000 per cent from March to January (57,785 minutes versus 24.2 million minutes), according to data provided by the company.

“People who haven’t hung out with their best friend while watching ‘The Flight Attendant’ or shared a family Christmas while watching an old classic movie on Scener, they just don’t know what this feels like,” he added.

Selling nostalgia for the prepandemic days may sound appealing in lockdown, but the question remains how attractive watch parties will be once a COVID-19 vaccine is widely available.

It’s a question Paydar said she thinks about often.

“Whenever someone asks, ‘If COVID ended right now, where would you go?’ the first thing I say is, ‘I’d like to go to a movie theatre,’” she said.

“There’s something about being in a physical theatre and going with a group of friends … Those end-of-the-night goodbyes, getting late-night eats with my friends. (We’re) creating memories I get to hold on to forever,” she said. “I don’t think that can be replaced.”

“Two years ago I would talk to investors about social TV and they would laugh at me.” JOE BRAIDWOOD

SCENER CO-FOUNDER