Really Amazon, my Facebook Friends like Monty Python? Wow!

#“Really Amazon, my Facebook Friends like Monty Python? Wow!”

You can now connect your Amazon account to your Facebook account. The idea being that stuff your friends like might also appeal to you.

I'm not so sure when it comes to purchasing.

I don't have the same taste in movies as my wife, I'm not a vegan like my old college buddy Bernard, I don't read the same books as my nephew Tadhg and I'm not a big fan of pets like my sisters.

But hey, I'm a click-junkie so I set it up and this is what it gave me:

A bunch of blindingly obvious "You're 42, of course you like The Godfather" plus some movies in Mandarin Chinese. Pretty much what I expected (apart from the Mandarin). Nothing along the lines of "wow, never heard of that book, must buy it".

I'll take "people who bought the product you just added to your basket also bought......" any day over this.

I'll now bang on about my favourite topic "filters" for a moment. I was taking the mickey out of Facebook last night due to their Page recommendations in the sidebar, they are hilarious. Here are some of them:

Many who like House also like Bones
Many who like Music also like Movies
Many who like Comedy also like Drama
Many who like Tea also like Breffmania
Many who like Shopping Malls also like Comtemporary R&B

The problem is lack of filtering. I actually like the Breffmania one because it is non-obvious and adds a little discoverability. Amazon telling me that my friends like Monty Python is about as interesting as saying they like TV.?

Purchasing is not the same as Liking YouTube clips or sharing jokes.Something far more powerful like Hunch is required.

And as I said on Facebook earlier, I'm be stunned if FB doesn't buy them this year.

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