1 Topic by kurschnextepisode

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Topic: Change in IMDb Ratings System to fight review bombing

I came across an interesting news article about IMDb's response to a trend they refer to as "review bombing". I believe most of us were aware this was happening (in some way, shape, or form), though I didn't come up with any effective resolutions that could be applied. I specifically recall the year that there was a concerted campaign to sabotage the ratings for The 100, season 7 maybe..

https://www.avclub.com/the-little-merma … ce=msnlink

What do you think of this practice and how IMDb plans to handle it?

Most rating systems are undoubtedly imperfect, but I'm pleased to see that IMDb recognizes the issue and is apparently taking action.
Do you think these alternate weighting calculations will be effective (make a difference) or do you perhaps feel no changes are even necessary?

https://www.avclub.com/the-little-merma … ce=msnlink

Looking forward to some feedback.

2 Reply by lighton

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Re: Change in IMDb Ratings System to fight review bombing

Love it! (To the extent that it works.) Weighing ratings less when the account is new or hasn't rated anything in a (long) while could be part of the solution. But only they have the data, so it's hard to speculate without it...

Review bombing is silly, I'm surprised it took them this long to act (in a way that the user can see it).

Some shows you might <3 too: https://next-episode.net/messiah https://next-episode.net/devs https://next-episode.net/ted-lasso https://next-episode.net/the-outsider
https://next-episode.net/chernobyl https://next-episode.net/alex-rider
https://next-episode.net/the-expanse https://next-episode.net/lovecraft-country
https://next-episode.net/into-the-night https://next-episode.net/utopia

3 Reply by Moze

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Re: Change in IMDb Ratings System to fight review bombing

Well, either you have a user rating system without interference, or you dont have a user rating system.

It's clearly not a 7.0 score movie, so the new "calculations" is way off.

4 Reply by lighton

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Re: Change in IMDb Ratings System to fight review bombing

Moze wrote:

Well, either you have a user rating system without interference, or you dont have a user rating system.

I disagree. https://slashdot.org/ for example uses a system where users can rate comments. Yes, it's interference, but I like interference that hides the swastika troll posts (etc.) from me.

Some shows you might <3 too: https://next-episode.net/messiah https://next-episode.net/devs https://next-episode.net/ted-lasso https://next-episode.net/the-outsider
https://next-episode.net/chernobyl https://next-episode.net/alex-rider
https://next-episode.net/the-expanse https://next-episode.net/lovecraft-country
https://next-episode.net/into-the-night https://next-episode.net/utopia

5 Reply by conmits

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Re: Change in IMDb Ratings System to fight review bombing

ALL  and EVERY rating by EVERYONE is useless and meaningless because it's all subjective. Some of the best shows which I have watched had a "rating" of 3 or 3.5 (or less) out of 10. Same applies in reverse. I have watched some 9 "rated" shows which have been nothing short of diarrhoea!!

6 Reply by lighton

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Re: Change in IMDb Ratings System to fight review bombing

conmits wrote:

ALL  and EVERY rating by EVERYONE is useless and meaningless because it's all subjective. Some of the best shows which I have watched had a "rating" of 3 or 3.5 (or less) out of 10. Same applies in reverse. I have watched some 9 "rated" shows which have been nothing short of diarrhoea!!

Maybe you have a niche taste? Not a single show I ever watched and loved had less than 5/10 and I never watched a 8-10/10 show that was really awful.

Some shows you might <3 too: https://next-episode.net/messiah https://next-episode.net/devs https://next-episode.net/ted-lasso https://next-episode.net/the-outsider
https://next-episode.net/chernobyl https://next-episode.net/alex-rider
https://next-episode.net/the-expanse https://next-episode.net/lovecraft-country
https://next-episode.net/into-the-night https://next-episode.net/utopia

7 Reply by kurschnextepisode (edited by kurschnextepisode 2023-06-03 02:43:52)

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Re: Change in IMDb Ratings System to fight review bombing

lighton wrote:
conmits wrote:

ALL  and EVERY rating by EVERYONE is useless and meaningless because it's all subjective. Some of the best shows which I have watched had a "rating" of 3 or 3.5 (or less) out of 10. Same applies in reverse. I have watched some 9 "rated" shows which have been nothing short of diarrhoea!!

Maybe you have a niche taste? Not a single show I ever watched and loved had less than 5/10 and I never watched a 8-10/10 show that was really awful.

Okay so I'm of the camp that thinks ratings are actually quite USEFUL. When researching a TV series, am I going to give the 2/10's or 4/10's the same consideration as a 7-8-9-10/10 ?? Absolutely not! In fact, I would say that user ratings are not only a meaningful tool for me, but I tend to DEPEND on them.

Now that is not saying that IMDb ratings are the end-all be-all measure of choosing TV shows to watch. I don't think anyone is saying that. I don't have the time to check out every 2/10 and up ratings that are even in my subjective genres or niches. If I thought ratings systems were totally arbitrary, there'd be no way to narrow down choices. EDIT: (shouldn't say "no way" , but just -"more difficult for me" )

Like I said, sure it's imperfect. You've outliers and exceptions. But I think the biased reviews generally balance themselves out. It's when there is a concerted campaign to sabotage, that I agree with an algorithm adjustment. So IMDb is saying they now have a mechanism detecting unusual voting activity which triggers an alternate vote weighing calculation to be applied. That can only be positive, right?

8 Reply by lighton

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Re: Change in IMDb Ratings System to fight review bombing

You've summed it up nicely! smile

There have been a few movies over the years where I decided to watch it (because I liked the trailer) even though the IMDb rating was only around 5/10, and I've regretted it more often than not.

Some shows you might <3 too: https://next-episode.net/messiah https://next-episode.net/devs https://next-episode.net/ted-lasso https://next-episode.net/the-outsider
https://next-episode.net/chernobyl https://next-episode.net/alex-rider
https://next-episode.net/the-expanse https://next-episode.net/lovecraft-country
https://next-episode.net/into-the-night https://next-episode.net/utopia

9 Reply by kurschnextepisode

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Re: Change in IMDb Ratings System to fight review bombing

Moze wrote:

Well, either you have a user rating system without interference, or you dont have a user rating system.

It's clearly not a 7.0 score movie, so the new "calculations" is way off.

Interference is intended only for scores where unusual voting activity is detected. It's these concerted campaign efforts to lower a rating that worsens the reliability of the system. As far as general bias, I think they balance each other out overall.
Correcting a user rating system that is being manipulated doesn't invalidate the entire system.

10 Reply by conmits

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Re: Change in IMDb Ratings System to fight review bombing

I think most of you are missing my point. The point I'm making is that if I am interested in the subject matter I would watch it, regardless if the rating was 2 or 9.

11 Reply by lighton

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Re: Change in IMDb Ratings System to fight review bombing

conmits wrote:

I think most of you are missing my point. The point I'm making is that if I am interested in the subject matter I would watch it, regardless if the rating was 2 or 9.

Then for you, looking at IMDb ratings is not worth your time. smile

Some shows you might <3 too: https://next-episode.net/messiah https://next-episode.net/devs https://next-episode.net/ted-lasso https://next-episode.net/the-outsider
https://next-episode.net/chernobyl https://next-episode.net/alex-rider
https://next-episode.net/the-expanse https://next-episode.net/lovecraft-country
https://next-episode.net/into-the-night https://next-episode.net/utopia

12 Reply by conmits

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Re: Change in IMDb Ratings System to fight review bombing

lighton wrote:
conmits wrote:

I think most of you are missing my point. The point I'm making is that if I am interested in the subject matter I would watch it, regardless if the rating was 2 or 9.

Then for you, looking at IMDb ratings is not worth your time. smile

That's exactly right. ANY ratings for that matter. Ratings don't dictate what I watch or don't watch.

13 Reply by some_one

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Re: Change in IMDb Ratings System to fight review bombing

conmits wrote:

I think most of you are missing my point. The point I'm making is that if I am interested in the subject matter I would watch it, regardless if the rating was 2 or 9.

Maybe you are missing the point? Perhaps ratings aren't about how much you enjoyed something but about how likely it is for someone who isn't interested in the subject matter to begin with to still enjoy it.

Take a look at Ratings Graph, a website that shows IMDB rating trends. Pick any show you enjoyed and know well and compare the individual episodes' rating trend (that is, comparing them to each other rather than looking at the actual numbers) to your own impressions. Is it a complete mismatch?

14 Reply by kurschnextepisode

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Re: Change in IMDb Ratings System to fight review bombing

conmits wrote:

I think most of you are missing my point. The point I'm making is that if I am interested in the subject matter I would watch it, regardless if the rating was 2 or 9.

Okay I get your point and you're right, there are definitely multiple occasions where I'll be somewhat perplexed by the user rating of a particular TV series (or movie). Yes, most of those occasions are likely due to my personal preferences of subject matter.
It's such though, that this will not happen enough to discredit an entire rating system.  Review bombing monkey business is entirely something else. If IMDb can detect it, mitigate the damage, they can preserve whatever reliability the rating system does have - which you've pointed out (a user rating) doesn't always make a difference if the genre is in your wheelhouse. smile