Nerd Girl Thoughts

This post is part of a new series that I plan to keep up as long as we’re still seeing recommendations to socially isolate in the US because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I can’t remember the last time I saw a movie in the theater, but I do miss the experience of getting together with friends to watch a movie or a few episodes of a TV show. Obviously, that’s not a thing we’re doing during social isolation, but there are multiple technologies that will allow us to do just that while not leaving the house.

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Facebook Watch Party: Probably the most restrictive of the services out there, but it might be nice if you want to show off your collection of cute cat videos to all of your friends. Whatever you’re watching has to be on Facebook, and you can only invite other Facebook users. If you want to learn more about how it all works, check the FAQ here.

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Netflix Party: If you (and all of your friends) have an active Netflix subscription, and use Chrome as a web browser, you could throw a Netflix Party. Just get everyone to download the browser extension and you’re well on your way to having a watch party of anything available on Netflix.

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Twoseven: For me, I think the winner as far as functionality goes is Twoseven. It does require users to set up an account, and install an extension on either Chrome or Firefox, but it makes a whole lot more content available. Free users have a bunch of options to source video to watch, and a $3 a month Patron pledge adds Hulu and Disney+ to your options list. If you’re hosting a watch party from a paid service, your guests must have their own log-ins, but they’re not required to be Patrons to watch Hulu or Disney+.

Please note: there are reports of Amazon not working for all users at this time, so be aware of this if you’re interested in an Amazon watch party.

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Have you participated in or hosted a watch party? What service did you use? Feel free to answer in the comments, or take this topic and run with it in a post of your own.