Netflix Plans Special Nostalgic Features to Celebrate 25th Anniversary

By Michael Hein

Monday, Aug. 29 is the 25th anniversary of Netflix's incorporation as a company. Today it faces direct competition from some of the biggest and oldest brands in the entertainment industry, but it has its own history to celebrate – including its status as the first major streaming service. Netflix has marked the occasion with a retrospective video and a few other blasts from the past.

Netflix started with a short video about its history, starting with its origin as a DVD mail service. In the montage that followed, it touched on some highlights from the last two and a half decades, including game-changing productions and cultural moments – such as the advent of the term "Netflix and chill." In a press release on its website, Netflix promised more highlights like this to come throughout the day on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and the company blog Tudum.

Fans got in on the fun right away. Many posted photos of old DVDs they still have from Netflix's mail-in days. Netflix's official social media accounts posted more throwback photos and videos as well as fun facts. For example, fans learned that the first DVD the company ever shipped was a copy of Beetlejuice on March 10, 1998, and that the placeholder name for the company in the earliest days of its inception was "Kibble."

These kinds of posts proved to be fun for many regular users of Netflix – especially those who have been onboard for decades. Others were surprised by the company's deep history, remarking that a lot seems to have happened in a relatively short time. That remains one of the most remarkable things about Netflix – it managed to ride a wave of emerging technology that took it beyond the older Hollywood studios and distributors that had been in the same business for a century or more.

Today, Netflix is just one among many, and most users would agree that it doesn't always stand on top anymore. However, Netflix has acquired the resources and stature to compete with those older companies in spite of its youth. So far, 2022 has been a rough year for the company but it shows no signs of falling by the wayside in its increasingly crowded field.

At the time of this writing, Netflix is available in the U.S. for either $9.99 per month, $15.49 per month or $19.99 per month depending on which features you want access to. The company's social media celebration of its anniversary continues.

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