原文链接：
Here’s what happened when I watched everything Netflix told me to for two weeks
What a cruel twist of fate. The more freedom of choice a couch-bound content-devourer has, the more oppressive it feels to actually choose.
命运多么残酷啊，给予躺在沙发上的内容消费者越多的选择自由，实际上他们选择的时候越喘不过气来。
It’s death by a thousand decisions. The endlessly scrollable Netflix menu, for instance, should in theory spark joy in every subscriber. All kinds of entertainment, right at your fingertips! But then the reality sets in: ALL kinds of entertainment. Right at your fingertips. Every new choice increasing the likelihood of picking the wrong one and then bailing at minute 15. Netflix users reportedly spend an average of 1.8 seconds considering each title they encounter. And since Netflix hasthousands of titles, those 1.8-second sessions add up to hours of analysis paralysis. Do you want to finally watch Swiss Army Man? Or do you want to see a show about botched cosmetic surgery? How sweet it would be to not have to be in charge of deciding.
选择太多真的会让人整段垮掉。比如说，理论上，无限滚动的Netflix菜单应该会让每个用户都感到高兴。各种娱乐，触手可及是！但现实是：各种各样的娱乐就在你的指尖。每一个新的选择都增加了一种可能性——选错了一个，然后在第15分钟就不看了。据报道，Netflix用户平均花1.8秒来考虑他们遇到的每一款游戏。由于Netflix有成千上万的剧集，这1.8秒的时间加起来就是几个小时的分析瘫痪。你想看《瑞士军人》吗?或者你想看一个关于整容手术失败的节目?要是不需要负责做决定该多好啊。
Thankfully, just as the servers at Cheesecake Factory offer suggestions from the restaurant’s famously mammoth menu, Netflix offers personalized recommendations to help users cut through the clutter. And while a Cheesecake Factory server only knows what he or she likes, or what other customers tend to like, Netflix’s algorithm draws on your entire history of decision-making to determine what you–specifically you–might like, and what you might like right now. Whether it can actually deliver on that promise, however, is another story.
谢天谢地，就像芝士蛋糕工厂的服务员从这家餐厅著名的丰盛菜单中提供建议一样，Netflix也会提供个性化的建议，帮助用户从混乱中解脱出来。虽然芝士蛋糕工厂的服务器只知道他或她喜欢什么，或者其他客户喜欢什么，但Netflix的算法利用了你的整个决策历史，来确定你可能喜欢什么，特别是你可能喜欢什么，以及你现在可能喜欢什么。然而，它能否真正实现这一承诺，则是另一回事。
I have long been curious about how Netflix’s recommendation algorithm works in practice. My list of recommendations is total anarchy. The streaming service not only has my viewing habits to draw from, but also the frequent compromise choices I make with my wife, along with the solo viewing choices she makes when she forgets to log in from her own account. The Top Picks for Joe often seem like the work of someone who has no idea who I am, or at least doesn’t know about my intense aversion to Joe Rogan. Is this because the various viewing modes on my account don’t necessarily represent me, or is it because the algorithm itself is inherently flawed?
长期以来，我一直都很好奇Netflix的推荐算法是怎么运作的。我的推荐清单完全是一片混乱。流媒体服务不仅有我的观看习惯，还经常有我和妻子之间做出的妥协，以及她忘记登录自己账户时做出的单独观看的选择。
I decided to find out.
Since my current Netflix account is compromised, I decided to open an entirely new account and, tabula rasa-style, take all of its recommendations for two weeks. I would watch whichever shows and movies Netflix pointed me toward–and watch my recommendations evolve as the platform decided what kind of person was watching. I would be born anew and assessed by the digital sorting hat again. Perhaps this extremely suggestible version of myself would end up triggering more accurate recommendations than my actual account. Or maybe I would bump up against the same kind of randomness that colors my account already. Either way, I hoped it wouldn’t be too boring.
我决定找出答案。
由于我目前的Netflix账户是有点被拖累的，我决定开设一个全新的账户，像tabula rasa那样（？？？），在两周内接受所有的推荐。我会看Netflix指引我去看的任何节目和电影——然后观察我的推荐是怎么随着平台认定正在观看的人去演变的。我将重头再次接受数字分院帽的评估。也许这个“极度易受暗示的我”最终会引发比我的真实账号更准确的建议。或者我可能会碰到和我的账户一样的随机推荐。不管怎样，我希望它不会太无聊。
HELPING TO FIND THE SHOWS I’LL LOVE
Netflix closed out 2018 with 139 million paying users worldwide, 29 million more than it had a year earlier. In the United States alone, Netflix added 1.5 million new members in the fourth quarter of the year. It’s hard to imagine just who is only now getting around to seeing what this whole Netflix thing is all about, but I am re-joining their ranks. Having been inducted over a decade ago, I forgot what this process entails. First, I pick a plan as my alter-ego, Boe Jerkowitz, and then the platform urges me to choose three titles I like.
2018年，Netflix在全球拥有1.39亿付费用户，比一年前增加了2900万。仅在美国，Netflix在今年第四季度就增加了150万新用户。很难想象到底是谁现在才开始了解Netflix的故事，但我又重新加入了他们的行列。我在十多年前就开始了这项工作，但我忘记了这个过程需要什么。首先，我选择了一个计划作为我的另一个自我，Boe Jerkowitz，然后平台鼓励我选择三个我喜欢的游戏。
“It will help us find TV shows & movies you’ll love!” Netflix promises, breathlessly.
There are more than 100 options, but mercifully not the full library. It’s a crowd-pleasing mixture of Netflix Originals like Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, recent blockbusters like Avengers: Infinity War, and popular network series like Grey’s Anatomy. It seems only appropriate to choose one from each of these unspoken categories, so I pick Stranger Things, Black Panther, and The Good Place, all of which I genuinely enjoy.
“它将帮我们找到你会喜欢的电视节目和电影”，Netflix气喘吁吁地承诺
有100多个选项，幸运的是并没有把所有选择都摆上来了。它是一堆大众喜欢的Netflix自制剧——《无间道风云》(Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle)、《复仇者联盟3:无限战争》(Avengers: Infinity War)等近期大片，以及流行网剧《实习医生格蕾》(Grey 's Anatomy)等。似乎只适合从这些未被提及的类别中选择一个，所以我选择了《怪奇物语》、《黑豹》和《好地方》，这些我都非常喜欢。
A caption appears that reads, “Personalizing for Boe Jerkowitz.” I love to be personalized! Alright, entertainment cyborg, knock my socks off.
It’s interesting to see what Netflix suspects I might want to watch just based on those three initial titles. Autoplaying at the top of the screen is an ad for the just-released Ted Bundy Tapes, a Netflix original that I am indeed interested in, but one that’s a long way from The Good Place. (The smart money says Bundy is in the Bad Place.) The categories these suggestions are sorted into are mostly the usual suspects, but they get more niche the further I scroll. There’s “Conspiracy TV Shows,” “Oddballs & Outcasts,” and most intriguingly, “NX: Multiple Universes, One Home.”
页面出现了这个标题:“Boe Jerkowitz的个性化。“我喜欢个性化!好了，娱乐电子人，让我大吃一惊。
有趣的是，Netflix根据这三部最初的电影来猜测我可能想看什么。屏幕顶部的自动播放是刚刚发布的Ted Bundy磁带的广告，这是Netflix的原创，我确实对它很感兴趣，但离这个好地方还有很长一段路要走。(精明的投资者认为邦迪的处境不妙。)这些建议被分类的类别大部分都是常见的，但是我越往下看，它们就越有针对性。有“阴谋电视节目”，“怪人与弃儿”，最有趣的是，“NX:多个宇宙，一个家园。”
I go with one from the Top Picks for Boe Jerkowitz section: A Wrinkle In Time. It’s pretty good! Lots of vivid visual flair. When the movie ends, Netflix auto-recommends Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, a Netflix original starring Neil Patrick Harris. I hadn’t really been looking for tween-friendly programming to begin with–the pull forA Wrinkle in Timewas director Ava DuVernay–but rules are rules.
我选的是Boe Jerkowitz专栏最受欢迎的一篇:《时间的皱纹》(A Wrinkle In Time)。很好!许多栩栩如生的地方。当电影结束时，Netflix自动推荐了莱蒙尼·斯尼克特(Lemony Snicket)的《一系列不幸事件》(A Series of Events)，这部Netflix原创电影由尼尔·帕特里克·哈里斯(Neil Patrick Harris)主演。一开始，我并不是真的在寻找适合青少年的编程（？？？）——《时间的皱纹》的导演艾娃·杜维纳就是其中之一——但规则就是规则。
Lemony Snicket is darker than I expected and not un-fun, but still not quite up my alley. I watch the first and last episode because Netflix only recommends something else after a TV series once you’ve watched through to the end. Next up is the platform’s new take onCarmen Sandiego.
莱蒙尼·斯尼基特比我想象的要暗黑，也不是不好玩，但不是我的菜。我看第一集和最后一集是因为Netflix只会在你从头到尾看完一部电视剧之后才会推荐其他内容。接下来是该平台的新版本《卡门·圣地亚哥》。
Oh, no. Why did Netflix assume I wanted to go even younger than I’d already gone? Did it think I was a teenager with Benjamin Buttondisorder? I had been sucked into a YA programming vortex, and I had to escape.
哦,不。为什么Netflix认为我想要比我已经离开的时候更年轻呢?它认为我是一个患有本杰明·巴顿症的青少年吗?我被卷入了YA编程的漩涡中，我不得不逃离。（？？？）
Of course, what might help is if I gave Netflix more to go by other than those original three titles and the two I’d just watched. I soon added 12 more titles to My List, movies and shows from all over the televisual map. I put in Korean zombie movie Train to Busan, Catherine O’Hara’s riches-to-rags sitcom Schitt’s Creek, as well asSchindler’s List, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. That should complicate things nicely.
当然，如果我能给Netflix提供更多的信息，而不仅仅是最初的三部和我刚刚看过的两部，或许会有所帮助。很快，我的清单上又增加了12部电影，电视地图上到处都是电影和节目。我添加了韩国僵尸电影《釜山行》、凯瑟琳·奥哈拉(Catherine O 'Hara)的情景喜剧《溪》(Schitt 's Creek)、《阿辛德勒的名单》(asSchindler 's List)、《歪小子斯科特》(Scott Pilgrim vs. the World)和《黑镜:抢匪》(Black Mirror: Bandersnatch)。这会使事情变得复杂。
Now that I’d expanded my palate, Boe Jerkowitz’s Top Picks had changed too. Thanks to my recent viewing habits, they now included Coco, Hotel Transylvania 3, and Boss Baby, naturally, but there was also some more adult fare. I definitely needed to pick something with bloodshed or at least colorful language in order to Google Map my way out of Sesame Street.
现在我的口味变多了，Boe Jerkowitz的首选也改变了。由于我最近的观影习惯，他们现在自然包括了《寻梦环游记》、《精灵旅社3》和《Boss Baby》，但也有一些成人节目。为了谷歌为我指明走出《芝麻街》的路，我绝对需要选择一些带有血腥或者至少是丰富多彩的语言。
I choose Chappie, a punchline of a dystopian robot romp from 2015 that would either be secretly great or hilariously awful. It was . . . neither, a bewildering miscalculation that made me wonder how in the world District 9 director Neill Blomkamp convinced a major studio to give him $50M for a movie starring the South African hip-hop outfit Die Antwoord (!) as themselves (!!).
我选择了《超能查派》(Chappie)，这是2015年反乌托邦机器人嬉闹的一个妙语，它要么暗藏伟大，要么可怕得可笑。但是这……两者都没有，一个令人困惑的误判让我想知道《第九区》的导演尼尔·布洛姆坎普是如何说服一家大制片厂给他5000万美元，让他拍一部由南非嘻哈乐队Die Antwoord主演的电影。
After the movie ends, Netflix recommends Next Gen, an animated feature starring the power trio of John Krasinski, Charlyne Yi, and Jason Sudeikis. I was still stuck in kiddie hell, and in a subsection nobody has ever heard of. (Rotten Tomatoes boasts only a literal handful of reviews for Next Gen.) Why had Chappieled me here? Sure, both films involve robots, but only in Chappie does a man get graphically killed by a b-boy robot doing the A-town stomp on his internal organs.
电影结束后，Netflix推荐由约翰·克拉辛斯基(John Krasinski)、查理·伊(Charlyne Yi)和杰森·苏戴基(Jason Sudeikis)主演的动画电影《新一代》(next Gen)。我还被困在儿童地狱里，在一个没人听说过的地方。(烂番茄(Rotten Tomatoes)对《下一代将军》(Next Gen.)的影评屈指可数)为什么要把我放在这里?当然，两部电影都涉及机器人，但只有在Chappie，才会有一个男人被一个b-boy机器人踩踏内脏致死。
The answer to this question ends up shaping the rest of my experiment with Netflix’s algorithm. I realized then that the reason the platform pushed me toward Next Gen after Chappie is because Next Gen is a Netflix original that shares a tiny bit of DNA with Chappie. Netflix was steering me from an outside studio’s robot movie to its own movie that involves robots. It was in-house advertising, not a recommendation. Now I wondered just how often this exact scenario happened.
这个问题的答案最终决定了我对Netflix算法的其余实验。然后我意识到，这个平台之所以把我推到Chappie之后的新一代，是因为Next Gen是Netflix的原创，和Chappie有一点相同的DNA。Netflix把我从一个外部工作室的机器人电影转向了它自己的机器人电影。这是内部广告，不是推荐。现在我想知道这种情况到底发生了多少次。
WHO DOES NETFLIX THINK I AM?
Next Gen be damned, my Top Picks were now finally looking more adult-like. Pulp Fiction, Hellboy, and Shaun of the Deadwere there now–all winners in my book. Flipping through the options, I chose Next Friday, which ended up justifying my long-ago prediction that it probably wasn’t anywhere near as good as the first Friday. As the credits rolled, Netflix recommended The Ted Bundy Tapes, a curious pick. Unlike with Chappie and Next Gen, there was zero connective tissue that I could discern between Friday and Bundy. My best guess: Perhaps when there is no direct Netflix analogue for whichever title a user has just watched, the algorithm recommends any random Netflix original from the user’s Top Picks. If that random original happens to be a fresh release the platform is pushing on every subway ad in New York City, so much the better.
该死的《下一代》，我的首选现在终于看起来更像成年人了。《低俗小说》、《地狱男爵》和《僵尸肖恩》现在都在我的名册中。我浏览了一下选项，选择了《下周五》，这最终证明了我很久以前的预测是正确的，即它可能根本没有第一个《周五》那么好。随着演职员表的滚动，Netflix推荐了Ted Bundy的磁带，一个奇怪的选择。与Chappie 和 Next Gen不同，我在 Friday和Bundy之间看不到有什么勾连的关系。我的最佳猜测是:或许当用户刚刚观看的任何一款游戏都没有Netflix的直接模拟版本时，该算法会从用户的首选中随机推荐Netflix的原创游戏。如果这个随机的原创恰好是一个新的版本，那么这个平台将会推广到纽约市的每一个地铁广告，那就更好了。（？？？）
Watching a movie that stars Ice Cube after one that stars the members of Die Antwoord had a profound effect on my Top Picks. Netflix now seemed reasonably sure that Boe Jerkowitz was all in on Ice Cube’s entire filmography, and that he wanted to watch other movies starring and/or about rappers, including Eminem’s8 Mile, Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa’s Mac and Devin Go to High School, and most galling of all, Jamie Kennedy’sMalibu’s Most Wanted.
看了一部由《冰立方》(Ice Cube)主演的电影后，又看了一部由《安特伍德之死》(Die Antwoord)的成员主演的电影，对我的首选产生了深远的影响。Netflix现在似乎有理由相信Boe Jerkowitz会出现在Ice Cube的整个电影记录中，他还想看其他由说唱歌手主演的电影，包括Eminem的《8英里》，史努比·道格(Snoop Dogg)和维兹·哈利法(Wiz Khalifa)饰演的麦克(Mac)和德文(Devin)都上过高中，最让人难堪的是，杰米·肯尼迪(Jamie Kennedy)饰演的斯马利布(smalibu)是最受通缉的人物。
I had never felt less understood in my entire life–and that includes the time I went to Paris by myself without an iPhone or even a rudimentary grasp of the French language.
在我的一生中，我从未感到自己被理解得如此之少，包括有一次我独自一人去巴黎，没有带iPhone，甚至连最基本的法语都没有。
Who does Netflix think I am? Furthermore, who am I? Suddenly, I was curious to see whether Netflix knew the me on my actual account any better than Boe. When I logged in, I noticed some differences between the tiles on some films and shows on this account versus the other one. The Fyre Festival documentary here featured a closeup on a bikini butt with crossed fingers in front of it. On Boe’s account, the tile showed a logo for the film with a fishhook through an Instagram heart. Did Netflix think Boe hated butts?Black Panther here featured the hero in costume, ready for combat; Boe’s version sported a shirtless Killmonger instead. What about my viewing habits suggests that I side with Killmonger (I mean, maybe a little?) or that I’m attracted to Michael B. Jordan’s physique? (Who isn’t?) My home account’sGood Place tile was a yellow and blue bowtie, whereas Boe’s offered a fro-yo swirl of those two colors. I wasn’t philosophically equipped to unpack the implications of all these differences.
Netflix认为我是谁?此外，我是谁?（？？？）突然，我很好奇Netflix是否比Boe更了解我的真实账户。当我登录时，我注意到这个账户上的一些电影和节目的磁贴与另一个有一些不同。这里的Fyre电影节纪录片特写了一个交叉手指的比基尼臀部。在Boe的账户上，这块瓷砖通过Instagram的心形图案展示了电影的一个鱼钩标志。Netflix认为Boe讨厌屁股吗?黑豹在这里的特点是英雄的服装，准备战斗;Boe的版本则是一个赤膊杀手。我的观看习惯表明我支持基尔芒格(我的意思是，也许有一点?)或者我被迈克尔b乔丹(Michael B. Jordan)的身材吸引?(谁不是呢?)我的家庭帐户的好地方瓷砖是一个黄色和蓝色的领结，而京东方提供了这两种颜色的漩涡。我没有哲学上的能力去揭示所有这些差异的含义。
At this point in the project, I began to surrender my hopes that Netflix would get to know me better with my clean, newborn account. All I wanted to know now was whether it ever led its users from the end of a movie or show to another movie or show that wasn’t a Netflix original. I spent the remainder of my second week hoping that, just once, it would slip up and recommend other studios’ films and shows. You know, like the original purpose of Netflix?
到了这个的这个时候，我开始不抱希望，Netflix会通过我干净的新账号更好地了解我。我现在只想知道的是，它会不会在一部电影或电视剧的结束时，把用户导去另一部不是Netflix原创的电影或电视剧。第二周剩下的时间里，我一直希望，哪怕只有一次，它会出错，会推荐其他电影公司的电影和节目。就像Netflix的初衷一样?
It never did.
I watched Seth Rogen’s North Korea-agitating comedy, The Interview, which led me to a Netflix original standup special by Gabriel Iglesias.
它从来没有。
我看了塞斯·罗根(Seth Rogen)的朝鲜喜剧《采访》(The Interview)，这把我导向了Netflix原创的加布里埃尔·伊格莱西亚斯(Gabriel Iglesias)的单口喜剧
I watched the Gabriel Iglesias special, and it led me to another Netflix original standup special, this one by Sebastian Maniscalco. The only thing less funny to me than either of their specials, two spectacularly unmemorable flurries of joke-shaped words and gestures, was their rankings on the Highest-Paid Comedians of 2018 list.
我看了加布里埃尔·伊格莱西亚斯(Gabriel Iglesias)的特别节目，这把我导向了Netflix的另一个原创单口喜剧特别节目，由塞巴斯蒂安·马尼斯卡尔科(Sebastian Maniscalco)主演。在我看来，唯一没有他们的这两部特别节目那么有趣的是，他们在2018年收入最高的喜剧演员排行榜上的排名。
I watched a no-budget horror movie called Malicious, which led me toMalevolent, a low-budget Netflix original horror movie with a name so similar to the one I’d just watched that it felt like a joke, possibly one from Sebastian Maniscalco.
我看了一部没有预算的恐怖片《怀恶意》(Malicious)，这把我导向了Netflix的低成本原创恐怖片《进化》(alevolent)，它的名字和我刚看的那部非常相似，感觉像是在开玩笑，可能是塞巴斯蒂安·马尼斯卡尔科(Sebastian Maniscalco)的。
I watched the Vince Vaughn/Jennifer Aniston rom-com,The Break Up, which led to the Netflix original rom-com When We First Met, starring Adam Devine and Alexandra Daddario. It was at this point I knew that the experiment had officially concluded. What more did I need to know?
我看了文斯·沃恩/詹妮弗·安妮斯顿主演的浪漫喜剧《分手记》，然后把我导向了Netflix原创的浪漫喜剧《当我们初次遇见》，由亚当·迪瓦恩和亚历山德拉·达达里奥主演。就在这时，我知道实验正式结束了。我还需要知道什么?
Netflix doesn’t want to model itself after any one studio or TV network; it wants to usurp all studios and all TV networks, to be all things to all people. It used to be a platform for giving viewers what they want, but now it’s mainly a platform for giving viewers its own Netflixian version of what Netflix’s carefully kept data says its viewers want.
Netflix不想模仿任何一家工作室或电视网络;它想要篡夺所有的工作室和所有的电视网络，成为所有人的一切。它曾经是一个平台，让观众得到他们想要的东西，但现在它主要是一个平台，让观众看到Netflix精心保存的数据所表明的观众想要的Netflix自己的Netflixian版本。
The company spent $12 billion on content last year and it expects to spend $15 billion in 2019, so this strategy will inevitably sometimes pay off with your next authentic TV obsession. (Hello, Russian Doll, which I discovered during this experiment.) You don’t need an algorithm to tell you the math is on their side in that regard. But in many other instances, Netflix will be content to function like a glitched-out vending machine that hears “Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston breaking up” and serves you “Adam Devine and Alexandra Daddario getting together.”
该公司去年在内容上花费了120亿美元，预计2019年将花费150亿美元，因此，这种策略有时不可避免地会在你下次真正痴迷于电视节目时得到回报。(你好，俄罗斯娃娃，这是我在实验中发现的。)你不需要一个算法来告诉你在这方面数学是站在他们一边的。但在其他许多情况下，Netflix将满足于像一台故障自动售货机那样运转，听到“文斯沃恩(Vince Vaughn)和詹妮弗安妮斯顿(Jennifer Aniston)分手”的声音，然后为你提供“亚当迪瓦恩(Adam Devine)和亚历山德拉达里奥(Alexandra Daddario)在一起”。
I am now no closer to knowing what I want, but at least I know what Netflix wants.
我现在并没有比以前更知道我想要什么，但至少我知道奈飞想要什么了。