by Sixstrings » Wed 07 Jan 2015, 17:10:47
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'T')ech question: whenever I add a film to my list, Netflix offers me a list of recommendations. So how can I get a similar list of recommendations for previous films I liked in the past?
Not sure what you're asking, but when you first join netflix they show you lists of movies and if you've seen them before you rate them with stars and then that starts the algorithm off, getting to know what you like.
You can just go ahead and look up moves you've seen before and then rate them, 1 to 5 stars, and that will further help the algorithm.
As far as I can deduce, any activity you do on netflix goes into the algorithm. So, even if you just start to watch a movie, whether you finished it all or quit somewhere in between, then the algorithm considers all that and you'll start to see things pop up that say "based upon your interest in ____."
The algorithm will get to know you better and adapt more, over time, based upon what you do. It helps if you rate the movies after seeing them, with stars.
Here's a little trick I've done from the start, that I don't think anyone else does:
You can actually make 5 member accounts, which is supposed to be for different members of the household. But what I did was I made four separate accounts (still all the same included price) that are all for me, but with differing interest sets.
So, I've got a "foreign films" netflix, and then I've got a "documentaries" netflix, and then my regular one, etc.
So now when I sit down at the TV I browse all of those, and I get different recommendations on all 4. My system is a bit ruined in that the accounts all branched off from just "foreign films" or "documentaries" but it's still helpful because I'm getting suggestions that I wouldn't have seen on my regular account.
The doomer movies, for example, are popping up on my "foreign films" account. And that comedy show I liked so much actually popped up from my "documentaries" account.
(so, what one could do is make an account and JUST watch doomer movies on it / climate change stuff / whatever the narrow interest is. If you stick to that system and don't veer off to other things then you'll always have a list that's focusing on that interest area.
Maybe this isn't a good system, because really the algorithm needs to know your total interest areas, but for netflix on tv I like this because I'm getting 4 times the suggestions on the tv. I started this when I did the dvd by mail and it was an orginizational thing, just foreign films on one que, just documentaries on another, etc.
P.S. I use a tivo by the way, and it's outrageous they charge me every month for that but I do save on a cable box so it's a bit of a wash. I love the tivo though, just the menus, I've got netflix on there and youtube too. There's actually so many good things just on youtube, if you start watching a documentary or lecture on a particular topic then youtube just keeps playing one thing after another similar to that. It's like a tv channel.

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