We all have things we like, foods music, movies, games and even web sites included. We can encapsulate ourselves within bubbles of favoritism however as a result.
The thought occurred to me when I was listening to music on my ipod, there's a playlist that lists the top 25 played songs. That's a brilliant thing to have because I get to listen to my favourite songs but it occurred to me that if I always went to this playlist then ultimately those 25 tracks and their play counts would go up and up until they became the only 25 tracks that would be listed there. For any new track to make it into that list I would have to listen to it in a short period of time so many times to outnumber the play count of the lowest track in the list which would encompass plays from the entire length of time it had been in my library. There in lies the problem of favoritism.
Even on the various video sharing web sites online there is in most cases a most viewed section. The same problem occurs there, if the most viewed section becomes the go to point for the majority of users it will sooner rather than later establish a near static chart which will only continue to rise in views making it harder for new content to break through.
Go beyond the internet and we can extend this to other things, anything ultimately that is associated with a definitive ranking system, even a system that becomes highly regarded but not an authority. Take university league tables. Are those at the top truly the best or did they reach their spot and become established as the most popular leading anyone who regards the league table to apply for them first again the league table establishing a "go to" relationship.
Is it really prudent to use ranking systems, for anything? How do you prevent ranking systems from causing bias and influencing their own ranks?
The thought occurred to me when I was listening to music on my ipod, there's a playlist that lists the top 25 played songs. That's a brilliant thing to have because I get to listen to my favourite songs but it occurred to me that if I always went to this playlist then ultimately those 25 tracks and their play counts would go up and up until they became the only 25 tracks that would be listed there. For any new track to make it into that list I would have to listen to it in a short period of time so many times to outnumber the play count of the lowest track in the list which would encompass plays from the entire length of time it had been in my library. There in lies the problem of favoritism.
Even on the various video sharing web sites online there is in most cases a most viewed section. The same problem occurs there, if the most viewed section becomes the go to point for the majority of users it will sooner rather than later establish a near static chart which will only continue to rise in views making it harder for new content to break through.
Go beyond the internet and we can extend this to other things, anything ultimately that is associated with a definitive ranking system, even a system that becomes highly regarded but not an authority. Take university league tables. Are those at the top truly the best or did they reach their spot and become established as the most popular leading anyone who regards the league table to apply for them first again the league table establishing a "go to" relationship.
Is it really prudent to use ranking systems, for anything? How do you prevent ranking systems from causing bias and influencing their own ranks?
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