A bunch about Hunch

As alluded in earlier posts I have an always expanding curiosity about emerging social media/social networking websites. In my further exploration of these trending sites I came across Hunch. Wikipedia describes Hunch as a collective intelligence decision-making system that uses decision trees to make decisions based on users' interest. In less-confusing terms, Hunch is website that gets to know its users through random questioning so that it is able to recommend sites tailored specifically to your interests.

To ease registration, Hunch gives you the option to sign into the website using your Twitter or Facebook accounts. I suppose this function is partially for ease of use as well as automatic promotion when people sync either of these pages with their Hunch accounts. Once you sign in you are then asked a series of seemingly random questions. Anything from "When you get home, where does your coat usually go?" to "Do you consider Russia to be a part of Europe?" The question/answer portion of the website continues for as long as you want, but the more questions you answer the better the site gets to know you. Once you've answered some questions and completed your profile you are ready to get started.

Hunch produces a list of suggested topics for you. This is when I was truly amazed by this site. The top suggestions Hunch produced were scarily congruent with my interests. It suggested things such as "Places to move" a subject I've only been interested in as graduation date draws closer. Other suggestions included "Going out ideas", "Cocktails", "Coen Brothers moves", and "Dog Breeds". You would think Hunch was connected to my Google searches, but playing on Hunch on several computers disproves this theory. The site's decision trees are just THAT good.

To truly utilize the site and have it tailored even more specifically to your likes you simply click on a topic and rate the site's suggestions on a 5 star scale ranging from "I hate this" to "I love this". (Hunch already has starred the degree to which they think you will like a suggestion, and 9 times out of 10 they're right. Creepy, I know.)

Rating each suggestion will only allow Hunch to get to know you better. The real usefulness of the website comes from clicking on a suggestion. For example under the suggested topic "Places to move" Maui was listed as a 5 star recommendation for me. Once I click on the recommendation a user generated list of pros and cons about Maui appears, as well as a list of other users who like Maui. It also allows you to submit any personal pros and cons, as well as a list of similar locations Hunch thinks you might find useful.

Hunch's ability to get to know its users gives browsing this site a personal feel. It eliminates all the clutter of a standard search and personalizes the web just for you. It isn't trying to sell you anything or persuade ideas in any way. It is simply an unbiased tool for learning more about things you are already interested in. Again this is another website that will have you clicking for hours so consider yourself warned.