Netflix is looking to vertical video as a way to experiment with new content types, said CTO Elizabeth Stone, speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 conference on Tuesday. The exec noted the company didn’t want to compete directly with apps like TikTok or other short-form drama apps, but did acknowledge there are more ways that Netflix can take advantage of the mobile platform.
In response to a question about the competitive landscape on mobile, Stone agreed there are times when consumers are looking for something Netflix offers, like a TV show, movie, or game, but there are other times they want “something more snackable.”
In these moments, Netflix needs to be able to offer “a broader variety of content,” she said.
“We’re testing a vertical video feed on mobile devices that starts to reimagine what mobile is, and kind of meets consumers where they are now and how they’re using mobile today.”
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That feed, announced earlier this year as a test, allows members to scroll through clips of its original titles. The goal is to encourage Netflix users to be inspired to watch the show or movie.
However, the company may have bigger plans for how that feed can be utilized, Stone’s comments suggested.
The exec pointed to Moments, a video clipping feature in the Netflix app that lets users clip and share their favorite scenes from a show or movie.
There’s potential for seeding those short clips into the vertical video feed, but Stone didn’t directly confirm this plan. Instead, she said more vaguely the company would experiment with “different types of content” that could be in the vertical feed, as well as “different ways to clip and share content.”
“We’ve been innovating on Moments, which allows kind of a social connection to some of the content by allowing a member to take a clip and share it with their networks,” she said, adding that the feature is a type of short-form experience.
“But [Netflix] is not intending to copy or chase exactly what a TikTok or others are doing because we think that there’s a certain type of entertainment — or moment of truth — that’s especially valuable to our members, and we really want to be focused there, versus trying to be all things at every moment, which I don’t think needs to be a core part of the strategy,” Stone added.
Another experiment involves podcasts, thanks to Netflix’s recent deal with Spotify to distribute podcasts on its platform.
“We’ll use some of these new canvases we have, like vertical video, to start to experiment with new content types — and that includes something we announced more recently, which is podcasts,” Stone added, noting that some podcast content would be co-exclusive across Netflix and Spotify and would come to life on both mobile and TV.
The exec said users will see these experiments out in the next few quarters and throughout 2026.
