I've been using the Findory lately as personal newspaper of sorts - the findory keeps track of which stories and blog posts I read and based upon these stories gives me new related content every time I visit.  I don't have to explicitly rate stories, the Findory just figures things out based upon what I've read.  One neat thing about the Findory is that next to most stories there's a little icon:  that tells me that the story was selected just for me - if I click on the icon, the Findory will tell me why that story was selected.  The Findory also mixes in other stories that are not recommended specifically for me, I assume because they are of general interest.

This week,  there have been an overabundance of stories about Britney Spears and her lack of underwear on the Findory page.  Looking at the Findory right now I see 8 non-personalized general interest stories - 4 of them - are about Britney Spears' privates.  Perhaps the Findory is just reflecting what is going on in the blogosphere at large - but I really wish there was a way I could tell the Findory that I am not now, nor will I ever be interested in this kind of celebrity news.  Perhaps, the Findory will eventually figure out that I never click on these stories and will eliminate them, but I wish I could just make them go away now. So Greg, what can I do?

Comments:

Hi, Paul. Thanks for pointing this out. In addition to your recommended stories, Findory will always show a small selection of popular stories. In part, this is because these stories have broad interest, and in part it is to learn more about your interests. It is a good idea to allow people to rate stories negatively. We've prototyped that feature a couple times, but never gotten the look and feel to the point where we were happy with it. We'll keep on working on it. In the meantime, the offending Spears stories should drop off the page in 24 hours or so. Findory will move on fairly quickly to start showing different popular headlines. Thanks again, Paul.

Posted by Greg Linden on December 01, 2006 at 04:50 PM EST #

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