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0 pointsciupicri2y ago0 comments

What does the recommendation system have to do with the available content (and especially what Netflix produces)?

I also remember reading on HN that the system was simplified even if the Netflix Prize [1] competition was supposed to make it better.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netflix_Prize

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6 comments · 2 top-level

ceejayoz2y ago· 2 in thread

> What does the recommendation system have to do with the available content...

It impacts substantially your perception of what Netflix has on offer.

My kiddo's subaccount has all sorts of stuff I had no idea they carried. If the parent poster is seeing exclusively female leads with effeminate male supporting roles, that's what Netflix thinks they want to see.

Name one new Netflix show with a male lead you can actually look up to.

The Night Agent.

mcphage2y ago· 2 in thread

> the Netflix Prize [1] competition was supposed to make it better

Was supposed to, but the winning algorithm was unusable in production.

ghaff2y ago

It was unusable in production. It's also the case the Netflix' goal isn't actually to give you the best recommendations; it's to keep you as a subscriber which is a correlated objective but not the same thing.

> which is a correlated objective but not the same thing.

True, but even if they didn't share it with their subscribers, "How much would this user like this movie" is a valuable tool in keeping subscribers.

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