Netflix cheating a phenomenon that can put a pause on your relationship

Those who stream together, stay together?

It is common for couples in long-term relationships to take on quite possibly the most lofty commitment to each other they'll ever make: watching a show on Netflix together.

This unbreakable vow requires the couple to sit down and watch their favourite show with each other at the exact same time. It becomes a total pledge of trust and something you commit to doing together, kind of like raising a child.

There is an unspoken rule that one member of the party may never, under any circumstances, proceed onto the next episode without the other. It's just the rule. It's what you get yourself into.

However, sometimes the show is just too good and the temptation to move forward with the next episode is too great. This is where the relationship is at its most vulnerable and where Netflix cheating begins.

Defined as watching a TV show ahead of your significant other, Netflix cheating has increased threefold since Netflix conducted a study on the behaviour in 2013.

In a new global study, Netflix claims that "cheating" is on the rise and shows no signs of stopping. In the US alone, 48 per cent of couples commit streaming infidelity, making it the fifth most unfaithful country in the world.

Of course, couples don't originally set out to cheat, but the excitement of the unknown proves too irresistible and soon it becomes difficult to tame a wandering eye. About 80 per cent of cheating is unplanned and nearly two-thirds (58 per cent) cited issues with self-control as their excuse for infidelity.

But identifying the source of their problem doesn't usually help.

Read the full article here.

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