Hacker News Reader

Comment by karmakaze | Hacker News Reader

I realized that most recommendation systems are bad because they are optimized for the aggregate not the individual. I keep getting recommendations for recent popular content, because it will have high engagement for the masses. For everyone that isn't part of that mainstream, the system doesn't care about. Some recommendation systems that try to do better may fare better.

As for ad-tech, if I'm getting ads for washer-dryers after a recent purchase, then they're counterproductive.

View on HN

"Engagement" is just code for addiction. They couldn't care less about personalizing content for our tastes. They want us constantly "engaging" with stuff. Scrolling all day on the apps. This maximizes the amount of advertising we see.

Advertising is the root of all this evil.

> I realized that most recommendation systems are bad because they are optimized for the aggregate not the individual.

That reminds me of something I'm not sure is the same, but maybe it is. Anyone also feels that a few years ago the Steam "related games" section switched from being not necessarily mainstream games that were actually similar to what you're looking at to being mostly whatever the most popular games that share any genre at all with the game on the page you're at?

Yes. Steam recommendations used to be absolutely superb. Now they're just "good," with a lot more "crap" baked in.

When I say 'optimized for the aggregate', that sounds like pleasing the most people most of the time, but what it often means is maximizing profit and not otherwise caring about users' experience.

> For everyone that isn't part of that mainstream, the system doesn't care about.

The sad part is, this is exactly why I left broadcast radio and TV and movie theaters behind. With some heuristics and filters in place, this sort of thing was solvable online, but nope, the market beckons, pulling everyone ever forward into its gaping maw . . .

True enough.

Granted, as the article also mentioned (if I recall correctly), some recommender systems are actually quite good. For me, finding new music to listen from a particular genre fits into this category.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com