Why Social Software Makes for Poor Recommendations

"Another interesting question that came up at the Nokia workshop was whether social software networks, such as Friendster, would prove to be a good source of recommendations to filter the Tail. At first blush it makes sense that they would. After all, whose recommendations would you trust more than those of your friends? But the truth, parodoxically enough, is that strangers typically do an even better job.

The problem with social software as a recommendation network has its roots in the problem of social software itself. 'Friend' is a pretty blunt instrument when it comes to describing relationships, especially in matters of taste. The sad reality is that most of my friends have rotten taste in music (I don't hold it against them), while the music recommendations I actually follow are mostly from people I've never met, be they Rhapsody editors or MP3 blogs. Same for virtually every other narrow category where I need advice; odds are that the real subject matter experts aren't anyone I know."