Netflix and the Napoleon Dynamite Problem (2008)

Re:Netflix and the Napoleon Dynamite Problem (2008) by mrspeaker on Wednesday July 22, 2015 @01:43PM (#9931111)

"If you use a computerized system based on ratings, you will tend to get very relevant but safe answers"... I call this my "Radiohead metric": for a given music recommendation system, how long do I have to use it before it tries to recommend me Radiohead.

One of the problems I find in music algorithms is they can't know how I've changed - suggesting music based on what I play or input - but that's stuff I liked in mid-2000s when I was in peak music consumption mode. Most suggestions then get picked from the same pool.

I'd love these algorithms to take my age into consideration: "If you liked X when you were 25, you're going to love Y now that you're 35!"

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Re:Netflix and the Napoleon Dynamite Problem (2008) by iak8god on Wednesday July 22, 2015 @02:53PM (#9931555)

> I call this my "Radiohead metric"

I don't use Pandora very much any more but when I did I'd just create a station based on a single artist and then usually listen to it without further interaction. All my stations would converge on Radiohead within ten - twenty tracks regardless of starting point: Joy Division? You must like Radiohead. Passion Pit? Radiohead. Billy Holiday? Radiohead. It was amusing but also more than a little bit annoying, and part of the reason I moved on from Pandora.

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Re:Netflix and the Napoleon Dynamite Problem (2008) by seansmith23 on Wednesday July 22, 2015 @03:53PM (#9931868)

So.... do you like Radiohead?

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Re:Netflix and the Napoleon Dynamite Problem (2008) by redthrowaway on Wednesday July 22, 2015 @02:29PM (#9931409)

Applying weight to each rating based on its age seems like such an obvious fix that someone must have tried it and realized that it makes things worse.

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Re:Netflix and the Napoleon Dynamite Problem (2008) by s_kilk on Wednesday July 22, 2015 @03:01PM (#9931611)

Maybe, but I'd think you'd have to take the age weight with a pinch of salt.

The are 14 year olds who are obsessed with jazz and blues, while some 70 year olds only listen to hardcore punk and deathgrind

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Re:Netflix and the Napoleon Dynamite Problem (2008) by redthrowaway on Wednesday July 22, 2015 @04:11PM (#9931984)

Age of the vote, not age of the voter.

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Re:Netflix and the Napoleon Dynamite Problem (2008) by cortesoft on Wednesday July 22, 2015 @03:22PM (#9931722)

It also might have to do with the time span of the data set... If they only have snapshot data, it would be hard to do anything with temporal information.

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Re:Netflix and the Napoleon Dynamite Problem (2008) by hayksaakian on Wednesday July 22, 2015 @02:52PM (#9931546)

You can't really know that.

Sometimes the things we miss are the most obvious.

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