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February 16, 2005
Recommendations That Count (In Which He Reveals What Nature of a Sci-Fi Geek He Indeed Is)
I want to know if the new Battlestar Galatica series is any good. But who can I trust for advice? I'm the only SF geek in my group of friends. Slashdot offers some insight, but by the time you get to the end of the discussion you've seen just as many con responses as pro. And with digital identity, it's hard to establish credibility like we do in the real world--I can't ask BSGRawks33 if he thought seasons 4-6 of DS9 were the best Trek ever, The Fifth Element underrated, and Space Above and Beyond the greatest cancelled series, and evaluate his BSG recommendation based on his responses.
The nets I cast for opinions among friends are more carefully timed and tied than most. But we all cast nets: "Did you see last week's OC?" Or, "What did you think of The Life Aquatic?" And we all make choices based on the catch from those nets: "Dude, no!" Or, "It's Anderson, man, with Bill Murray. The touch is golden!"
We also evaluate the catch of those nets by comparing 'twixt their response and our own thoughts. "Yeah, the whole secret sea base thing was just to pull your attention away from the dull second act." Or, "Ryan has become so sweet! How could you not agree?" We're constantly grabbing responses and evaluating credentials like this.
The time has come for real online recommendations.
It's time for Amazon et al to give me what I want. I've bought the DVD series from them. I've sat down and utilized their cool star-rating XMLHTTP feature. They've aggregated thousands of buying patterns and ratings. They know more about what I like, and what people who like what I like like, and what people who buy what I buy also buy, than anyone. Why can you not tell me if I should follow the new Battlestar Galatica series???
There's any number of ways to do it. Take what I've rated in the sci-fi genre, find out who has given the same media similar ratings, and then show what those people rated the new BSG. Or, of those who have bought shows x, y, and z, but looked at then bailed on a, what have they gone on to buy next? How about narrow demographics? My age within two years, my region within 100 miles, similar past purchases. The ways are endless, and probably quite surprising. But I know there are useful recommendations in there somewhere. Please, Amazon et al, counsel me. I’m just a lonely sci-fi geek jonesn for my catch.
[Update: Jon Garfunkle extends this critique upwards to cover society-level items and outwards across e-tailers, blogs, social networks, etc. Good stuff, and short read.]
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Posted by Noel at 05:25 PM
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