possible solution to cyber S/N
Igor Chudov @ home
ichudov at algebra.com
Mon Sep 23 21:20:15 PDT 1996
Vladimir Z. Nuri wrote:
>
> taking this idea to the cyberspace arena, the application is
> immediately obvious-- pages that are linked to by a lot of
> other pages are valuable, those that are not are not as
> valuable.
>
The above is wrong from two standpoints:
Locally: if my taste is sufficiently different from that of other people,
why should I follow their preferences?
Globally: Vladimir's recommendations lead to a vicious circle of
"tyranny" of popular sites because hte more people view a site, the more
will follow and the site's "attractiveness" rating will go even higher.
It is similar to a recommendation to buy stocks when they are rising.
If enough people follow it, stock crashes like in 1929 are imminent.
- Igor.
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