“BookWyrm is a social network for tracking your reading, talking about books, writing reviews, and discovering what to read next.”

  • Jackthelad@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    Recommendations from people, not algorithms

    I mean, if an algorithm can recommend me books I might enjoy based on things I’ve previously read, that’s not a bad thing?

    Algorithms aren’t always bad.

    • LinkOpensChest.wav@lemmy.one
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      2 years ago

      To each their own, but I’ve been using bookwyrm for a few months now, and I like that it doesn’t use an algorithm because I have yet to receive a suitable recommendation from one. It’s a much cleaner, refreshing experience.

    • Corgana@startrek.website
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      2 years ago

      It sounds good on paper, but after a decade of having Netflix and Spotify recommending stuff to me that I “like” but leaves me spiritually pigeonholed, I’ve really come around to appreciating the value of “organically” encountering media that is more varied and challenging.

      To give an example: when a friend recomends a book to me, even if it’s not my “taste” the experience becomes much more rewarding (and I have a friend to talk about it with!). Being recommended media by a software program is impersonal and honestly it gets kinda lonely.

    • seaQueue@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      +1, I get a lot of very good recommendations from chatgpt.

      Book recommendations from people are fine, but I find that about half of them are just echoes of whatever’s popular in that particular forum.

      r/printsf gives very good recommendations most of the time but you’d better be ready to read Blindsight.

    • LilDumpy@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      What about an algorithm so that you get relevant book recommendations from people? Would that count?