Alikewise Review
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BACKGROUND
Alikewise connects users with shared literary tastes and interests by using a matching algorithm similar to, and built on, Amazon's recommendation engine. Aimed at more intellectual users, the site is build around the idea of connecting people through conversations about books. The site is open to all lovers of books and avid readers, regardless of other personal details.
User profiles consist of the photos and physical descriptions, but in addition to this users can add books to their profiles. There's also a "My Story" part of the profile that features prompts like "I would describe myself as…" or "You'll often find me…" that users can fill out however they please. Books are the central feature of each user profile, and users are encouraged to write their thoughts and comments about each book that they add to their profile. Users can then search for people by gender, age, location, and of course, book title or author. Although few users have the exact same titles, the book suggestion algorithm will make suggestions based on users who like similar kinds of books.
Creators Matt Sherman and Matt Masina describe the Alikewise.com experience as "qualitative over quantitative." However, because the site is relatively new, it has yet to reach a critical mass of users. Some match suggestions may seem like a stretch.
PRO
- Great for book lovers and avid readers
- Well implemented
- Free
- Easy to use
- Communicate anonymously and at your own pace
CON
- The site still has very few users
- Creating a profile with a meaningful collection of books can be timely
- Users can add books they don't like and write negative comments, but the matching algorithm will still assume users like that book
- No other measures of compatibility are used other than physical appearance and book preferences
FEATURES
Users can find people based on books. Users can also recommend books to other individuals, and buy books from Amazon.
Katherine A: Really novel idea... pardon the pun! Might have to check it out and see if I can fall in love with a Harry Potter fan!
Meg: What a cute idea! I'm going to make a profile for sure.
