US Elections 2020: Netflix adds button to skip Trump jokes in comedy special

Offense culture is taking over all spaces. One of the spaces it is taking over is online video streaming platforms. Netflix has now introduced an interesting way to make it's content more accepting to the easily offended, at the recommendation of comedian Seth Meyers.

It is going to introduce a button for skipping Donald Trump jokes in a comedy special by Seth Meyers in a similar way to how it currently offers the 'skip intro' button to users for series such as "Narcos."

Meyers' comedy special, which debuts on Tuesday will have a button for people to skip jokes related to political commentary about the current US president.

Meyers discusses Trump in almost every episode of his "Late Night with Seth Meyers" show. He is also credited with veering Trump in the direction of contesting presidential elections in 2016, by making fun of him at the 2011 White House Correspondents' dinner.

"Donald Trump has been saying he will run for president as a Republican — which is surprising since I just assumed he was running as a joke," Meyers' roast of Donald Trump at the event allegedly had a motivating effect on Trump's intention to run for the US presidency. It may seem fateful now and Meyers may be washing his hands off being responsible for Trump's second presidency.

Meyers' new Netflix special is called "Lobby Baby" and is expected to have acerbic jokes on Trump in his usual style. CNN claims that the idea of adding the button was wholly Meyers'.

The comedian calls the idea 'funny and innovative' and 'clever'. He calls the skipping option a joke in itself and states that it should not be taken too seriously. He also told CNN that he may even include it in a joke in his comedy special.

The button in itself is quite a smart idea – it can help Netflix present alternative storylines to one plot and engage more users based on their preferences.

It remains to be seen how the OTT platform takes this forward.