Youtube realized it once https://youtube.googleblog.com/2009/09/five-stars-dominate-r...

I fully agree with you, but we all saw how that went for Netflix. Some people are still angry at them for it. But yea, I can't even with good conscience give anything 4 star or less, knowing that it will basically destroy their job. So I only even vote low if it's a truly horrible experience.

Netflix's system wasn't so much a thumbs up/thumbs down system that we all know and love - it was a frankenstein system where you couldn't see how many thumbs up/down a title had, rather you saw a percentage on how likely you are to enjoy that title based on the thumbs you gave others. At first glance it looks like YouTube's system but in actuality it was very different.

https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-thumbs-rating-system...

In terms of impact on conversions the star rating has a powerful impact. People are highly receptive to the stars. I doubt that system is going away any time soon.

So we move towards a 5 star system, where anything other than 5 is considered a failure. Last time i looked lyft wanted their drivers to have a 4.8, and I've heard similar expectations from waitstaff and customer service call centers.

That's ridiculous, and only helps inflation to be normalized. For me, I've found it means it is hard to give credit for truly exceptional service. When I have to give 5s to those that just do the job like I wanted, I have few options to highlight when someone truly goes above and beyond.

has anyone tried competitive rankings? like hot or not ?