Okay, this Twitter post (a 'tweet' in geek-speak) is a silly example but it illustrates a much less trivial point. With all the clutter on the web people are increasingly turning towards recommendations to help with their decisions. It saves time and the results are a lot more reliable (well... Paul may beg to differ!).

But the process of acquiring these recommendations, as you'll see from the following examples, can be quite inefficient. You might email a friend who then has to spend 10 minutes digging through old emails to find the one on ‘Tips for Vietnam'. Worse still if you post a question on Facebook, A Small World or LinkedIn you could have several people chasing around for suggestions for you. Great for you maybe, but it results in a lot of duplication of effort. And it can also be rather hit & miss depending on who's online at the time or, if you're using Stumble Upon, depending on when you're online.

The chaps at RecommendBox have a better and more structured way of looking at this problem. You select who you want to receive recommendations from or send recommendations to. It eliminates the duplication mentioned above but is still a fairly intervention-heavy manual approach.

Snagsta is creating a platform that hopefully solves many of these problems and automates the process. If (and we know it's a big if!) we build huge database of interesting individual lists then finding things within the lists of friends and like-minded people can be done without interrupting them.

I took the time to consider Paul's dilemma and ultimately recommended he wear a tasteful leopard-skin thong. But in a few months time, all Paul will have to do is slide over to Snagsta and snag something from this list we recently received:

Underwear with a message for all moods and occasions

1. Bridget Jones's Granny Pants - sends a strong message and that message is ‘Here. But no further.'

2. Edible - need i say more

3. Boxers - bit of a tomboy

4. Commando - doesn't leave much for the imagination but is at least unambiguous

5. Leopard-skin thong - hopefully they're changed more often than the wearer's spots

6. Y-Fronts - hang on! This is supposed to be a girl's list...

7. Satin - that's better

8. Lace - femininity with a touch of class

9. Crotchless - come hither

By the way, Paul Walsh is one of my favourite bloggers. For all things internet from someone who 'speaks his mind and then some' check out his blog.

Like this post? Subscribe to our RSS feed and get loads more!