Comments on: The Banality of Crowds http://thenoisychannel.com/2009/02/05/the-banality-of-crowds/ Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:39:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Daniel Tunkelang http://thenoisychannel.com/2009/02/05/the-banality-of-crowds/comment-page-1/#comment-2134 Daniel Tunkelang Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:34:08 +0000 http://thenoisychannel.com/?p=1350#comment-2134 Social navigation only works when the data is dense enough to support it. She needs to have more friends working in midtown. Social navigation only works when the data is dense enough to support it. She needs to have more friends working in midtown.

]]> By: Otis Gospodnetic http://thenoisychannel.com/2009/02/05/the-banality-of-crowds/comment-page-1/#comment-2129 Otis Gospodnetic Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:08:17 +0000 http://thenoisychannel.com/?p=1350#comment-2129 Heh, funny story. So perhaps your wife should have secretly followed some friend of hers, who met up with another hungry friend taking your wife's friend out for lunch. Heh, funny story.
So perhaps your wife should have secretly followed some friend of hers, who met up with another hungry friend taking your wife’s friend out for lunch.

]]> By: Daniel Tunkelang http://thenoisychannel.com/2009/02/05/the-banality-of-crowds/comment-page-1/#comment-1796 Daniel Tunkelang Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:16:03 +0000 http://thenoisychannel.com/?p=1350#comment-1796 Indeed. But the long tail mixes the interestingly unusual with the deservedly unpopular. I'd like tools to help me figure out which is which, in accordance with my personal tastes and momentary whims. Not a mind reader, but a concierge. Indeed. But the long tail mixes the interestingly unusual with the deservedly unpopular. I’d like tools to help me figure out which is which, in accordance with my personal tastes and momentary whims. Not a mind reader, but a concierge.

]]> By: DrNI@CLB http://thenoisychannel.com/2009/02/05/the-banality-of-crowds/comment-page-1/#comment-1794 DrNI@CLB Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:36:19 +0000 http://thenoisychannel.com/?p=1350#comment-1794 You're mentioning the always-present drawback of rating-based systems: what a lot of people like must be good. That's why on last.fm you have the anyways-popular music on top of the ranking. Same holds for chart shows on the radio or any kind of thing on websites with ratings done by users. In the restaurant case, you could also just look at the long tail of the results to find at least some places that are more unusual. You’re mentioning the always-present drawback of rating-based systems: what a lot of people like must be good. That’s why on last.fm you have the anyways-popular music on top of the ranking. Same holds for chart shows on the radio or any kind of thing on websites with ratings done by users.
In the restaurant case, you could also just look at the long tail of the results to find at least some places that are more unusual.

]]> By: Daniel Tunkelang http://thenoisychannel.com/2009/02/05/the-banality-of-crowds/comment-page-1/#comment-1791 Daniel Tunkelang Fri, 06 Feb 2009 03:28:21 +0000 http://thenoisychannel.com/?p=1350#comment-1791 Indeed, social navigation works when it offers you transparency and control over the lens. http://thenoisychannel.com/2008/04/27/social-navigation/ Indeed, social navigation works when it offers you transparency and control over the lens.

http://thenoisychannel.com/2008/04/27/social-navigation/

]]> By: Rob Gonzalez http://thenoisychannel.com/2009/02/05/the-banality-of-crowds/comment-page-1/#comment-1790 Rob Gonzalez Fri, 06 Feb 2009 03:25:44 +0000 http://thenoisychannel.com/?p=1350#comment-1790 I really like sites like Netflix or GoodReads where you get updates on what your friends have liked. "Oh, I noticed you gave that 5 stars. What was it like?" Crowds that I'm close to mean a helluva lot more than random people whose taste I can't evaluate relative to my own. I really like sites like Netflix or GoodReads where you get updates on what your friends have liked. “Oh, I noticed you gave that 5 stars. What was it like?” Crowds that I’m close to mean a helluva lot more than random people whose taste I can’t evaluate relative to my own.

]]> By: Daniel Tunkelang http://thenoisychannel.com/2009/02/05/the-banality-of-crowds/comment-page-1/#comment-1767 Daniel Tunkelang Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:32:28 +0000 http://thenoisychannel.com/?p=1350#comment-1767 Don't worry, I won't quit my day job! And you're right, I don't mean to tar psychologists with a broad brush. It's a the pop stuff that irks me. I'm a big fan of the academic research in behavioral psychology--particularly the heuristics and biases literature. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias Don’t worry, I won’t quit my day job!

And you’re right, I don’t mean to tar psychologists with a broad brush. It’s a the pop stuff that irks me. I’m a big fan of the academic research in behavioral psychology–particularly the heuristics and biases literature.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias

]]> By: kate http://thenoisychannel.com/2009/02/05/the-banality-of-crowds/comment-page-1/#comment-1766 kate Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:25:21 +0000 http://thenoisychannel.com/?p=1350#comment-1766 this is like a skit out of seinfeld where an information-retriever gives stand-up a shot. my kind of humor, actually. this is why i think tag clouds or well-executed association maps that take into account the frequency and uniqueness of associations with a given term/query (ideally, taking into account source and style) are great launching points for understanding user-generated media ('your buzz'). herd mentality blinds us from the interesting, albeit often weak signals. now, in defense of psychologists... yes there is wisdom to be sought in crowds, but we're well aware of groupthink, pluralistic ignorance, and social loafing. this is like a skit out of seinfeld where an information-retriever gives stand-up a shot. my kind of humor, actually.

this is why i think tag clouds or well-executed association maps that take into account the frequency and uniqueness of associations with a given term/query (ideally, taking into account source and style) are great launching points for understanding user-generated media (‘your buzz’). herd mentality blinds us from the interesting, albeit often weak signals.

now, in defense of psychologists… yes there is wisdom to be sought in crowds, but we’re well aware of groupthink, pluralistic ignorance, and social loafing.

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