Can the internet ever really understand your tastes?
Tom Vanderbilt says tastes are so hard to pin down that online algorithms can only get them so right. He says we should look at how our tastes manifest on-line because it makes us more critical about the everyday choices we make, from choosing a restaurant to rating a TV show on Netflix to creating playlists.
Netfilx's star rating system is supposed to suggest movies and TV shows that are personalized to your tastes.
But chances are, you've stumbled upon at least a few 5 star flicks that turned out to be duds. Same goes for highly rated restaurants on Yelp.
Tom Vanderbilt, author of "You May Also Like: Taste in an Age of Endless Choice", says that's because our tastes are so hard to pin down and algorithms can only get them so right. He says we should look at how our tastes manifest online because it makes us critical of the everyday choices we make, from choosing a restaurant to rating a TV show on Netflix to creating playlists.