Streaming difference(s): Netflix and the branding of diversity

Since 2020, Netflix has emphasised the diversity of representation the platform provides through its content. Following the publication of its diversity report, the streamer positions itself as a driver of inclusion for underrepresented communities in film and television industries. This article examines how Netflix rhetorically frames the emphasis on diversity in its corporate communication. Based on a thematic analysis of Netflix’s press releases, it explores how Netflix uses its branding of diversity to generate a transnational appeal. The article outlines four strategies which highlight the cultural and industrial practices deployed by the streamer to gain competitive advantages. In 2021, Netflix published its first diversity report detailing the make-up of its talents across all US commissioned films and series released between 2018 and 2019. The report shows that, overall, Netflix is outpacing the global entertainment industry with regards to the representation and inclusion of underrepresented groups

Social support for digital inclusion: Towards a typology of social support patterns

This article contributes to a better understanding of patterns of social support in relation to digital inequalities. Based on an extensive qualitative study, the diversity of support networks and supports seeking patterns are unveiled. A typology of six patterns of help-seeking is presented and described: The support-deprived, the community-supported, the supported through substitution, the network-supported, the vicarious learners, and the self-supported. The article also critically engages with the often unnuanced academic literature on social support. The research and the typology reveal that the quality of support, as well as the availability of potential or actual support, is not only influenced by socio-economic factors. Rather, the strength of the relationship and the level of intimacy between individuals is an important predictor of support-seeking. As such, this article shows that mechanisms of in/exclusion are highly social, as they entail a diversity of formal and informal support-seeking patterns, which in turn have an important influence on the adoption and use of digital media