Long ago, I remember being so impressed by Netflix’s algorithm. It used to know me so well, I was astounded. Recommendations were spot-on for my tastes, and I could trust it would pick things I’d actually enjoy.
But then something changed. I don’t really know what, though I think it’s fair to assume “corporate meddling” was the root reason, no matter what the exact change was. It all fell apart. Recommendations stopped making sense. It felt like someone smart was losing their mind and there was nothing I could do about it.
I’ve long since stopped using Netflix (or any other streaming service.🏴☠️) It’s almost hard to believe how good it used to be. Just as Google used to actually be a useful search engine, it’s so clear that these companies reached a peak, then started going downhill.
I remember when Spotify was in its early days, they basically hired the Swedish pirate community and tons of music freaks to either write the code or hand-curate the recommendations. Tons of people sat down and linked artists together in a recommendations network for what must have taken years before there was enough user data to have the algorithm roll on its own.
I imagine something similar was done for Netflix in the beginning. And at some point, some self-important corporate asshat decided to just throw one of their most valuable assets away.
Long ago, I remember being so impressed by Netflix’s algorithm. It used to know me so well, I was astounded. Recommendations were spot-on for my tastes, and I could trust it would pick things I’d actually enjoy.
But then something changed. I don’t really know what, though I think it’s fair to assume “corporate meddling” was the root reason, no matter what the exact change was. It all fell apart. Recommendations stopped making sense. It felt like someone smart was losing their mind and there was nothing I could do about it.
I’ve long since stopped using Netflix (or any other streaming service.🏴☠️) It’s almost hard to believe how good it used to be. Just as Google used to actually be a useful search engine, it’s so clear that these companies reached a peak, then started going downhill.
I remember when Spotify was in its early days, they basically hired the Swedish pirate community and tons of music freaks to either write the code or hand-curate the recommendations. Tons of people sat down and linked artists together in a recommendations network for what must have taken years before there was enough user data to have the algorithm roll on its own.
I imagine something similar was done for Netflix in the beginning. And at some point, some self-important corporate asshat decided to just throw one of their most valuable assets away.