Idiocracy is getting even close with the new Netflix Rating system!

[+Warwagon MVC]

I see Netflix have finally implemented the 

 

 

The thumbs up and down rating system, doing away with rating a movie by giving it so many stars. On the top of each Netflix title description, it now gives a % with the word Match next to it. I'm not sure what the hell the word Match means. Are they matching it my liking? I'm so confused. 

 

Let's compare the two rating systems. I want to use the Show Luke Cage as an example, as I recently watched it.

 

The 1st half was good, but by the end, it felt like they had been ordered to produce 13 episodes (two episodes too many) but didn't have enough content, so they just created mindless dialog to stretch it. So how would I rate it? Well I liked the first half, it was well acted, the look of the show was really good.  So I'm torn as which thumb to give it.

 

On the other hand, if I had 5 stars to choose from the choice would be easy, I would give it 3 out of 5 stars

 

What's your thought on the new rating system?

[+virtorio MVC]

It makes sense when it comes to building a suggestion algorithm. They just need to know if you liked something or didn't like something. How should they handle a four star rating compared to a five star rating (or a two star rating compared to a one star rating) without you being able to convey more information as to why you made that choice, and there are too many factors involved for why you might give something an OK (three star) rating to use to make suggestions, so it's basically the equivalent to giving it no rating at all. 

 

Think of the new system as you telling them if you want (or don't want) more of something similar.

[Dick Montage]

When people cite that very poor film as a social construct, it comments more on them than much else...

 

But moreover, it's irrelevant here.  Like or Dislike - simple as that.  And the match is a % match based upon both your watching and rating trends.  How is that a problem?

Edited April 13, 2017 by Nefarious Trigger

[Slugsie]

This isn't new, AFAIK Netflix has been like this since I signed up over a year ago. As I understand it if you like something you thumb it up, if not thumbs down. The % rating is to indicate how good a match something is to you liking based on how others viewers who have similar likes to you liked it. Not hard to understand really.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

<Thread cleaned>

 

Congratulations. I've removed more consecutive posts and reduced a thread to one response. I think that's a record.

 

To the point at hand, no system is perfect. A like/dislike system, or a 5, 10 point rating system will have its flaws where you cannot properly express yourself. How are you supposed to be able to tell the system that the first half was great but the second half dragged? How does a point system convey that message?

 

EDIT: Well I had reduced it to one response when I started the post.

[The Evil Overlord]

Just now, Slugsie said:

As I understand it if you like something you thumb it up, if not thumbs down. The % rating is to indicate how good a match something is to you liking based on how others viewers who have similar likes to you liked it. Not hard to understand really.

True, but if you prefer a specific genre of entertainment, and out of the 100 people who have watched something you're interested in, then you see that the specific item has a very low rating, (85 thumbs down, 15 up, for hypothetical sake, would you be more inclined to view it?

1 minute ago, Nick H. said:

 A like/dislike system, or a 5, 10 point rating system will have its flaws where you cannot properly express yourself. How are you supposed to be able to tell the system that the first half was great but the second half dragged? How does a point system convey that message?

Ok you put it forward better than me

[theyarecomingforyou]

People weren't using the 5-star system enough. The new system has much higher engagements and is presumably used in conjunction with other data - e.g. types of shows watched, number of consecutive episodes watched, frequency of episodes watched, etc. What matters is the overall accuracy of the ratings, something not addressed.

 

As for the topic, if you really wanted people's opinions on the system you shouldn't have picked such a slanted title. You could have simply titled it 'My Critique of the new Netflix rating system' or 'Opinions on the new Netflix rating system'. If you were attempting humour it missed the mark.

[+Warwagon MVC]

5 hours ago, Nick H. said:

How are you supposed to be able to tell the system that the first half was great but the second half dragged? How does a point system convey that message?

 

 

 

What it says is, I didn't LOVE IT! (thumbs up!!) ... I didn't HATE it (thumbs down) ...3.5 is just meh. That's the problem, the thumb system doesn't take into account "Meh"

[+Warwagon MVC]

So it appears they want to recommend new things to you based on your thumbs up and thumbs down. Which brings me back to my Luke Cage dilemma 

 

Do I want them to recommend more of that type of show to me, yes. In that case, I should do thumbs up. But wait, I'm trying to tell other people how I feel about the show. So thumbs down?...err I want more of this type of show, I just didn't 100% love it.

 

So maybe after I do a lot of them the "new" algorithm can somehow figure out what I like. But here is a mockup I made. I can say overall, Luke Cage was Meh. 

 

Although at this point in time, with the only 2 choices I have, I would choose Thumbs down! But I'm interested to see what it does to the recommendations for me.

 

[theyarecomingforyou]

3 hours ago, warwagon said:

So it appears they want to recommend new things to you based on your thumbs up and thumbs down. Which brings me back to my Luke Cage dilemma 

 

Do I want them to recommend more of that type of show to me, yes. In that case, I should do thumbs up. But wait, I'm trying to tell other people how I feel about the show. So thumbs down?...err I want more of this type of show, I just didn't 100% love it.

You either like the show or you don't. It's not that hard to figure out. If you're unsure then don't rate it at all. Simple.

[Gone]

I agree with the OP on this topic. Netflix is catering to the people too stupid to judge whether or not they will like a movie based off a five star review. These people are too stupid to have an opinion other than something black/white, or either-or. There is always a grey area, which is why 5 star reviews exist. I would much rather chose a 5 star hotel over a 3.5 star hotel (aka Like vs Dislike), assuming I had the money.

 

I apologize for any spelling mistakes or typos, I am missing several keys on my keyboard and am also waiting for a new laptop screen. Long story short, FML.

3 hours ago, theyarecomingforyou said:

You either like the show or you don't. It's not that hard to figure out. If you're unsure then don't rate it at all. Simple.

Is a 5 star system really so hard to understand? No, not if you have an IQ more than a pea. I have no idea why Netflix is doing this, except for the world becomes more stupid every single minute of the day. I guess that why it is going down hill.

[Gone]

Let me also note the irony:

 

This topic at the time of my posting had a 1 star out of 5 rating.

[Doli]

17 minutes ago, SpeedyTheSnail said:

Let me also note the irony:

 

This topic at the time of my posting had a 1 star out of 5 rating.

Now it's at 3 out of 5 stars

 

The 1st half of this thread was good, but by the end, it felt like they had been ordered to produce 13 posts (two post too many) but didn't have enough content, so they just created mindless dialog to stretch it.

 

 

(this is the 13 post in the tread..well after a MOD cleaned it up)

[+Warwagon MVC]

2 hours ago, Doli said:

The 1st half of this thread was good, but by the end, it felt like they had been ordered to produce 13 posts (two post too many) but didn't have enough content, so they just created mindless dialog to stretch it.

2

That was pretty funny! Made me smile!

[theyarecomingforyou]

18 hours ago, SpeedyTheSnail said:

Is a 5 star system really so hard to understand? No, not if you have an IQ more than a pea. I have no idea why Netflix is doing this, except for the world becomes more stupid every single minute of the day. I guess that why it is going down hill.

Where did I suggest that a 5-star system is hard to understand? What it comes down to is user engagement, which Netflix has stated is much higher with the new system. There are other factors to the system, as Netflix creates a user profile and uses that to show ratings from like-minded people. The ratings it shows aren't universal - one show might appear as a 60% match to one person and a 95% match to another.

 

A lot of the criticism for the new system seems to stem from a lack of understanding of how it works and what the new system is designed for. But sure, if you want to pretend that Netflix thinks its users aren't smart enough to handle a 5-star rating system then go ahead.

[dragontology]

I don't hate Netflix's new system per se, I'm just a little disappointed. I use Trakt.tv mostly to manage my TV and movie viewing/rating habits (here's my all-inclusive rating history) and then mirror that to IMDb (movies and TV) and MAL (anime). With Netflix I kind of just wing it. With the 5-star system it was more or less easy to translate. Cut the rating in half and round up. With the up/down system, 1-5 is down and 6-10 is up. Or maybe 1-4/5-10. A 5 can be okay and can get a thumbs up, but a 4 is at the high end of bad and cannot. Well, that's what works for me, anyway. I tend to rate high, so it's not a problem. I'm also not above dropping a show or quitting a movie that just doesn't do it for me, and I won't rate something I didn't finish, for the most part.

 

I don't rely on Netflix for recommendations. I used to rely on Trakt, but I built up a big enough watch list that I don't really need recommendations anymore. I hear about enough shows on YouTube, Reddit, and Facebook, and I can figure out what I want to watch based on information available. The service I pay Netflix for is content delivery, not entertainment recommendations.

[T3X4S]

Algorithms are only as good as the metrics used.   Too many can skew the results.  But a good one would consider : genre, stars, costars, director,  theme/plot, etc.
I wonder how detailed their's is.