[Seeks-users] RFC: Active User Refinement of Search Results.

[David M. <da...@da...>]

*Summary:*
In this RFC I will briefly outline the case for adding active user
refinements to Seeks. I'm going to try to keep this RFC as brief as
possible, but can flesh it out as objections, questions, or suggestions are
raised.
*Basic Features:*
* Ability to remove results from search queries.
* Ability to move specific results up/down within a page.
* Must remember on a per-user basis the results of active user refinements.
*Why It Matters:*
* While a large percentage of users are only interested in providing passive
(if any) feedback to search engine a small, but significant minority are
interested in active content curation. These individuals can provide results
categorization which is not easily or quickly acquired via algorithmic
mechanisms.
* Individuals interested in active curation currently have very limited and
unsatisfactory options for active curation. Most current options are
deficient in numerous ways and many are being or have been disbanded. The
availability of an open source alternative would provide content curators
with confidence in the longevity of their work.
* Results for an actively curated engine can quickly outpace those of a
machine-only or passive-feedback engine on popular terms as users are able
to quickly populate the best results.
*Preventing the Inevitable:*
The largest challenge to such an endeavor occurs with success. With success
comes the enticement for users to abuse the active content curation (or
passive for that matter) in an attempt to force results in which they have a
commercial interest to rise to the top. This can be controlled by using a
meritocracy based system in which users earn influence with the
demonstration of knowledge, ability, and integrity.
User's active curation results should always take precedence for that user
over other results (they may have valid reasons for desiring their results
to appear at the top for their own queries), but an aggregate of trusted
curation results in combination with traditional passive user behavior and
metasearch aggregation and analysis will result in the best results.
*Personal Note:*
I have personally worked with a number of social search engines in actively
curating content. In every instance I have been disappointed with the
short-term lifespan of my data due to commercial refocusing. If Seeks where
to add such active content curation abilities to the software I would
immediately begin curating content and providing refined results for
numerous topics.