The Limits of Social Media
Oct 2nd, 2006 by Dan Blank
Netflix just announced a contest that will award $1 million to the person who can improve their recommendation engine by 10% or more:
““Most of the easy stuff has been squeezed out already,” he said, adding that it had become increasingly difficult to make substantial progress in predicting accuracy.”
I found it odd that the company admitted that the well has run dry in terms of ideas for further improvements and innovation. However, their willingness to open their business up to anyone in the world certainly has them pushing the limits of “social media” right into “social business.”
And not without good reason. Companies that understand that taking down their walls and allowing their customers to become participatory members is part of what gave Netflix such a passionate fan base.