Netflix is doubling down on vertical video experiments but won't directly compete with TikTok, CTO Elizabeth Stone revealed at TechCrunch Disrupt. The streaming giant plans broader mobile content tests through 2026, signaling a strategic pivot toward "snackable" content without abandoning its core entertainment focus.
Netflix just made its clearest statement yet about where mobile video is heading - and it's not trying to become the next TikTok. Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, CTO Elizabeth Stone laid out the company's expanding vertical video strategy while drawing sharp lines around what Netflix will and won't do in the short-form space.
The comments come as streaming platforms face mounting pressure to capture mobile-first audiences. Stone acknowledged this reality head-on, telling the conference audience that consumers sometimes want Netflix's traditional offerings - TV shows, movies, games - but other times crave "something more snackable." That's where vertical video comes in.
"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," Stone explained during the Tuesday session. The vertical feed test, first announced earlier this year, currently lets members scroll through clips of Netflix originals - essentially a discovery mechanism to drive viewing of full-length content.
But Stone's comments suggest Netflix has bigger plans brewing. The exec highlighted the company's Moments feature, which allows users to clip and share favorite scenes from shows and movies. While she didn't explicitly confirm it, there's clear potential for seeding these user-generated clips into the vertical feed - creating a more social, shareable experience without departing from Netflix's premium content strategy.
"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," Stone said. She described it as "a type of short-form experience" that could expand into "different types of content" and "different ways to clip and share content."
The strategic positioning here is crucial. While competitors like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels chase TikTok's algorithmic feed model, Netflix is betting on a different approach - using short-form as a gateway to long-form premium content rather than replacing it.
"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," Stone emphasized. "We really want to be focused there, versus trying to be all things at every moment."
