Are conventional user ratings out rated?

We have evolved and so has the way we react emotionally and culturally to products.

It sounds like a bold statement to make, but many factors come into play here. We have to look at this from many different perspectives and how we, as users, respond to the products we buy and love.

The first factor is convenience. Everything should go fast, it’s either good or bad. Data show that users tend to rate either 1 or 5 on a five star rating system. Those in between ratings 2,- 3,- 4,- are rarely used. As youtube says: It’s all or nothing. And this was back in 2009.

Apple’s App Store faces a similar problem. And it also shares another issue that YouTube faces; most people only tend to vote if they absolutely love or hate an app (or a video). Hence, the 1 and 5 star usage. — Techcrunch

This graph by Youtube shows exactly what they mean by the difference between 1 and 5.

Netflix changed their rating system in 2017 from a star rating to just thumbs up or down. This decision made the user engagement numbers go up by more than a 200% in A/B testing according to Netflix VP of Product Todd Yellin.

“We made ratings less important because the implicit signal of your…