A few months ago I wrote a post entitled +1 is Explicit, but is not Relevance Feedback. I am often personally concerned that, with many of the posts I write, I am being pedantic. However, last week TechCrunch came to the same conclusion: +1 Is Like A Button You Push For A Treat — Without The Treat. Some highlights:
I understand the concept behind the +1 Button — it’s a smart one. You get people to click it and it improves the page’s search ranking for logged-in Google users with social connections (and eventually maybe all results). At least I think that’s how it works. But I have a hard time believing that all of you actually clicking on the button really get why you’re doing it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that you’re clicking on it! I am too on some of our stories. But I can’t help but get the feeling that it’s a bit like a cruel experiment we’re running. We put up a button, you click on it because it’s there, expecting you’ll get a treat. But there is no treat.
As I was saying a few months ago, +1 allows for explicit signaling. But that signaling just isn’t a relevance feedback-type of signaling. The person doing the clicking doesn’t actually get anything “fed back” from that action to their ongoing information seeking task. TechCrunch continues: Continue reading…
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