I can’t tell you how frustrating it used to be to check in on our family’s communal Netflix account and see nothing but conspiracy theory documentaries and adult animation series. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But where were my rom-coms? Where were the (non-conspiratorial) TV shows I liked?

Now that’s all going to change, with individual recommendations on Netflix–especially brilliant for families.

In just a few steps, add the names of your kids, your late-night sitter, or other members of the household, then start checking off the entertainment genres they like.

Star your favorites and soon, Netflix will pick up on your preference and start making personalized recos. Which is especially great for my kids, who are probably not going to appreciate Orange is the New Black the way I do. Just a hunch.

This break-down by individual definitely seems to be the way all on-demand subscription programming is heading, if you look at the additions of Netflix Kids and Hulu Kids. Surprise! We don’t all watch the same shows, nor do we want our kids seeing all our shows.

There are only profiles for up to five individuals right now, but that should be ample for most families (if you have six kids, you can probably groups of them together by age). And  one nice touch with the Netflix indifidual profiles is that you can see them both in the regular Netflix or new Netflix Kids categories. So you can be assured that even while your kids are browsing choices more safely in Netflix Kids, which is still pretty broad, your five-year-old will be getting recommendations like The Lorax and not The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

Maybe in a few years. –Liz

Click over to your own Netflix account online (or through your system of choice) and follow the prompts to start customizing individual profiles.