ModeLing the WorLd

I find it quite intriguing to see how technology is adapting to our needs through patterns which can be converted into models. I have recently experienced that first hand and I was extremely fascinated by the experience even though the model used wasn’t very accurate. Recently I signed up with Netflix, the online movie rental site. I was asked to rate about 100 movies that were randomly selected. After I was done with the rating, they had probably 780 recommendations of movies that I might enjoy. I initially noticed that some of their recommendation where actual movies that I have seen and really enjoy. So through time, every time I noticed a movie I‘ve seen before, I went ahead and rated it knowing what that will affect. Now, two months later, I am not saying that their recommendation list is 100% “on point” but it has in a way gotten smarter. So, if initially, their recommendation list was half of the time on point, it is now, probably, 70%. Yes, quite scary but extremely convenient for me. They are clearly using a model to compare my ratings with other members’ ratings and correlating our information (i.e. similar movies we rated 5 stars, number of times we ordered the same title that we rated x stars, etc). In my opinion, this is very convenient but equally, very alarming. Great read though!