My Netflix Reviewer Rank
As I've mentioned before, I'm a huge fan of Netflix, the online movierental site. In addition to making movie selections, I spend time rating movies so thatNetflix can make recommendations of other flicks that I might enjoy; it generally works quitewell.
After watching one obscure selection online, Netflix askedme to write a review for it. Since there were noreviews posted (which shows you how obscure it really was), I happily reviewed it. Afterdoing so, I was assigned a "reviewer rank." I started at around500,000, meaning that there were half a million who has a more favorable rank. Thisstarted me writing reviews (60 so far). In part, this was because Ienjoy movies and writing, so reviewing them was an obvious extension. However, my competitive nature also wanted to see how low I could pushmy reviewer rank.
The rankings are updated weekly, and I feel compelled to check mine out. Usually, it moves upor down by a few hundred points. Ironically, the movement doesn'talways track with my activity. For example, I've seen my rank improvewhen I submitted no reviews, and I've seen it decrease when I havesubmitted reviews.
I suspect another factor in the ranking isthe percentage of people who find my reviews helpful. But that's impossibleto tell, since there is no way to do a controlled test with all theother reviewers making their own submissions. I've also wondered ifsubmitting "Top Ten" lists is a factor (I've made 10 so far), as wellas doing the social networking thing by making "friends and favs"connections (which I've yet to pursue). Again, there is no way toverify that.
Sometimes my reviewer rank makes huge jumps,anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000. I assume that means Netflix tweakedtheir formula. This is fun when my rank improves, but disconcertingwhen it drops. A couple a months ago, I had worked up to a rank of13,381, but a month later, it plummeted to 104,010.
That suremade me lose interest. Even so, I've worked back to 85,696. But whenthe rules can apparently change without warning, the effort to earn agood rank looses some of its appeal.
After watching one obscure selection online, Netflix askedme to write a review for it. Since there were noreviews posted (which shows you how obscure it really was), I happily reviewed it. Afterdoing so, I was assigned a "reviewer rank." I started at around500,000, meaning that there were half a million who has a more favorable rank. Thisstarted me writing reviews (60 so far). In part, this was because Ienjoy movies and writing, so reviewing them was an obvious extension. However, my competitive nature also wanted to see how low I could pushmy reviewer rank.
The rankings are updated weekly, and I feel compelled to check mine out. Usually, it moves upor down by a few hundred points. Ironically, the movement doesn'talways track with my activity. For example, I've seen my rank improvewhen I submitted no reviews, and I've seen it decrease when I havesubmitted reviews.
I suspect another factor in the ranking isthe percentage of people who find my reviews helpful. But that's impossibleto tell, since there is no way to do a controlled test with all theother reviewers making their own submissions. I've also wondered ifsubmitting "Top Ten" lists is a factor (I've made 10 so far), as wellas doing the social networking thing by making "friends and favs"connections (which I've yet to pursue). Again, there is no way toverify that.
Sometimes my reviewer rank makes huge jumps,anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000. I assume that means Netflix tweakedtheir formula. This is fun when my rank improves, but disconcertingwhen it drops. A couple a months ago, I had worked up to a rank of13,381, but a month later, it plummeted to 104,010.
That suremade me lose interest. Even so, I've worked back to 85,696. But whenthe rules can apparently change without warning, the effort to earn agood rank looses some of its appeal.
Posted by Peter DeHaan at 5/19/2009 7:22 PM 
Categories: Movie Reviews, Movies, Internet
Tags: Netflix review ranking Peter DeHaan blog author Peter DeHaan Peter DeHaan Musings Musings of Peter DeHaan
Categories: Movie Reviews, Movies, Internet
Tags: Netflix review ranking Peter DeHaan blog author Peter DeHaan Peter DeHaan Musings Musings of Peter DeHaan
As far as I know, Netflix has only tweaked (in a major way) the formula of the rankings twice. Previously, "adds" from "friends" and one's lists, writing reviews of titles with very few reviews (IE writing the first review of a title = major rankings bump).
Don't take the ranking number seriously. It could lead to reviewing burnout. It's also more fun when approaching the writing of reviews less as a competition and more of a way of sharing one's thoughts.
BTW the ranking between 10000 and 100000 jump considerably. Rank changes become less dramatic as one is ranked below 10,000. For example, my rank has improved (!) even when I didn't write a review for months. It's probably due to my (highly targeted and maintained, but useless to most people) niche lists and traffic from 230 something reviews.
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John, thanks for your input and ideas about the Netflix reviewer rank.
Your advice about not taking my ranking number too seriously is right on -- it does lead to reviewer burnout. I've slowed my pace of writing reviews, and well as lessened my fixation with my reviewer rank. Even so, I've already noted that this week I am at 67,894 -- a drop of 131.
(See other blog entries that mention Netflix or are about movies.)
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You should check out your spacebar or at least spell-check your articles.
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