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I have been waiting a long time for someone to use lessons learned from recommender systems to build a social media site like reddit, but rather than having use

I have been waiting a long time for someone to use lessons learned from recommender systems to build a social media site like reddit, but rather than having users group themselves up, they would be shown posts algorithmically, based on how they have voted in the past. For example, if I vote for a lot of pro EFF posts, maybe I will see more posts about free software or something like that. This also allows the site to treat votes as merely an expression of preference, not a judgment of quality (which is hard to define). Many sites try to enforce a rule that says "Don't downvote things disagree with." This is an impossible battle to win, there will always be people who downvote things they don't agree with. This behavior needs to be accounted for in the platform. This is more "socially scalable" to me.

organsnyder 11y ago
Isn't that basically how Facebook's algorithms work? The only difference is that it restricts the pool of possible content to your list of "friends".
- jcoffland 11y ago
  FB also decides who your real friends are. You normally only see posts from the friends you interact with most.
spatulan 11y ago
That sounds horrible. I don't want the internet to become a giant echo chamber. I want to hear differing views from time to time, because I might be wrong.
- HCIdivision17 11y ago
  I would imagine you could also similarly find the things you either stay away from or actively dislike. Sort of a topical noise cancellation. Train it to know your preferences, but to occasionally give material outside the comfort zone. I think you'd really need a substantial map of topics to have a good understanding of where contrasts lie, but we're likely on track with the datasets currently being built in public sites like Reddit. Really, I'm surprised this feature isn't implemented anywhere, since one of the joys of the Internet is being delighted by a new idea you haven't seen before. I certainly would appreciate filtering of the obvious rubbish like Fry is exasperated with, but having quality dissenting opinions available is precious.
- punee 11y ago
  So you will upvote differing views that you find interesting. And they will be included in your "bubble". Tada.
slig 11y ago
Reddit used to have that years ago. > reddit is a source for what's new and popular on the web -- personalized for you. Your votes train a filter, so let reddit know what you liked and disliked, because you'll begin to be recommended links filtered to your tastes. All of the content on reddit is submitted and voted on by users like you https://web.archive.org/web/20061117074302/http://reddit.com/help/ https://web.archive.org/web/20061117074302/http://reddit.com...
SmellyGeekBoy 11y ago
Quora works this way to some extent, and I find that it works very well.

organsnyder 11y ago

Isn't that basically how Facebook's algorithms work? The only difference is that it restricts the pool of possible content to your list of "friends".

jcoffland 11y ago
FB also decides who your real friends are. You normally only see posts from the friends you interact with most.

spatulan 11y ago

That sounds horrible. I don't want the internet to become a giant echo chamber. I want to hear differing views from time to time, because I might be wrong.

HCIdivision17 11y ago
I would imagine you could also similarly find the things you either stay away from or actively dislike. Sort of a topical noise cancellation. Train it to know your preferences, but to occasionally give material outside the comfort zone. I think you'd really need a substantial map of topics to have a good understanding of where contrasts lie, but we're likely on track with the datasets currently being built in public sites like Reddit. Really, I'm surprised this feature isn't implemented anywhere, since one of the joys of the Internet is being delighted by a new idea you haven't seen before. I certainly would appreciate filtering of the obvious rubbish like Fry is exasperated with, but having quality dissenting opinions available is precious.
punee 11y ago
So you will upvote differing views that you find interesting. And they will be included in your "bubble". Tada.

slig 11y ago

Reddit used to have that years ago. > reddit is a source for what's new and popular on the web -- personalized for you. Your votes train a filter, so let reddit know what you liked and disliked, because you'll begin to be recommended links filtered to your tastes. All of the content on reddit is submitted and voted on by users like you https://web.archive.org/web/20061117074302/http://reddit.com/help/ https://web.archive.org/web/20061117074302/http://reddit.com...

SmellyGeekBoy 11y ago

Quora works this way to some extent, and I find that it works very well.