Favorite Time Waster: Rating Stuff
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Aside from my previously mentioned time waster, my favorite online time waster isn't so much a site as it is an activity. I enjoy rating stuff online. Well, more accurately, I feel compelled to rate things. Movies, CDs, games...you name it. If I've seen it, heard it, played it, tasted it, odds are I've rated it somewhere on the intertubes.
Now don't be confused. I rate - I give one to five stars and I'm done. I walk away. I don't review, and I don't recommend.
Why do I rate? Well, it's therapeutic. The process soothes my inner judgmental bastard. "HA! Take that J. Lo. That's right, I gave Gigli one star. And there's nothing you can do about it!" Ahhhh, I feel the day's negative trappings roll off my shoulders with every star I click.
If my form of therapy were to actually help someone make a decision, it would be wholly accidental. My motivation for rating is purely selfish. I rate for me. You see somewhere along the line I deluded myself into believing the recommendation engines of sites and services like Amazon, Netflix, and iTunes would actually get smarter with the more things I rate.
In reality, 6,526 ratings later, the best Netflix can do is tell me I should rent Police Squad: The Complete Series. Though I dig a good non sequitur as much as the next guy... well, that's exactly it. "As much as the next guy" is exactly it. It certainly doesn't take an investment of almost 7,000 ratings to be recommended something that every jackass I grew up with in middle school, drank beers with in college, play golf with on the weekends, and game with in the wee hours of the morning would like just as much.
I want to uncover new stuff.
Stuff I won't find on the beaten path. Stuff that just might broaden my horizons a little. These days, when I've got a little time to waste on the web, I'm on sites that not only feed my rating Jones, but put a different spin on recommendations. My favs are Pandora, Last.fm, Metacritic, Yelp, and Become.
Now don't be confused. I rate - I give one to five stars and I'm done. I walk away. I don't review, and I don't recommend.
Why do I rate? Well, it's therapeutic. The process soothes my inner judgmental bastard. "HA! Take that J. Lo. That's right, I gave Gigli one star. And there's nothing you can do about it!" Ahhhh, I feel the day's negative trappings roll off my shoulders with every star I click.If my form of therapy were to actually help someone make a decision, it would be wholly accidental. My motivation for rating is purely selfish. I rate for me. You see somewhere along the line I deluded myself into believing the recommendation engines of sites and services like Amazon, Netflix, and iTunes would actually get smarter with the more things I rate.
In reality, 6,526 ratings later, the best Netflix can do is tell me I should rent Police Squad: The Complete Series. Though I dig a good non sequitur as much as the next guy... well, that's exactly it. "As much as the next guy" is exactly it. It certainly doesn't take an investment of almost 7,000 ratings to be recommended something that every jackass I grew up with in middle school, drank beers with in college, play golf with on the weekends, and game with in the wee hours of the morning would like just as much.I want to uncover new stuff.
Stuff I won't find on the beaten path. Stuff that just might broaden my horizons a little. These days, when I've got a little time to waste on the web, I'm on sites that not only feed my rating Jones, but put a different spin on recommendations. My favs are Pandora, Last.fm, Metacritic, Yelp, and Become.
posted by Theawaykid coporation @ 11:24 AM
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