Collaborative micro-filtering
By sylvie | June 11, 2007
Interesting thoughts by Sarah Cooper on what she calls collaborative micro-filtering: in other words, who I turn to for information about a specific issue depends on how much I perceive that this person and I share (or not) opinions about X. She suggests that Facebook could take advantage of this to create some interesting tools.
I think that expertise would also have a huge impact on my perceived trust in someone’s opinion. If Matt says that knife X is the best carving knife available, then I’m going to look favourably on mark X, just because I know that Matt spends a lot of time cooking and has taken classes in the subject. It’s not even necessary for me to share the same opinions on the end product with the expert: we could disagree on what would constitute an ideal meal, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t trust his opinion on the tools needed to create that meal.
Do I need access to people’s expertise level in order to know whether to trust their opinion? Certainly not if it’s concerning anything subjective. Taste is personal. I don’t care if you’re the biggest wine expert, I just want to know if we agree on wines to know if I’ll want to buy a bottle that you’re recommending. But for things that can be measured objectively, then I’ll be happy to take into account how long you’ve been doing wine tastings to accept your suggestions on the best instrument to uncork a bottle.
Via Jack Vinson’s Knowledge Jolt.
Topics: Trust, Collaboration |
