Welcome to something that's been pissing me off recently.

Stop rating things! Don't get me wrong, I love collecting data about the content I consume and it's great that there are websites and apps that will do this for you. The social media aspect of it is cool too, I enjoy seeing what all my friends (and some random youtubers) are watching and reading. I even appreciate a review from them with a humorous line about their cinema-going experience. But. I think it's given everyone too much confidence in their own opinions and made rating completely meaningless.

Firstly, a rating is utterly baseless without a consistent system. Personally if I am rating something I'd use this one, which is a compromise between the two methods I have issues with below. You can't guarantee that others use a similar grading system, and a 4.5 to you might only be a 3 to someone else. It's common to think 6/10 is a harsh rating, but numerically it's better than average! I also see people changing their rating after a week, or re-watching and giving a completely different rating. This isn't to say sometimes art can't hit different when you are feeling different things, but when you are asking me to view your rating as a measure of quality, not enjoyment, that becomes a little dubious.

Quality rating systems hugely bother me. We're all tired of someone loudly stating their opinion that a song/show/book is terrible, and that it's "Objectively Bad". That's not real, art is subjective (however if you would like to play with a made up objective framework, CJ the X has a great video talking about this). This kind of attitude always seems to be negative as well, which is probably why it often rubs me the wrong way. I believe rating systems that rely solely on quality are preventing you from engaging with media, if you're constantly looking for flaws instead of just enjoying your time.

Conversely, an enjoyment rating system tells me nothing about the media. I only learn about you, the reviewer and what you enjoy. This is fine, and good actually! When I look at someone's profile it's because I want to learn about them and what they like! However, systems like this lead to vast amounts of fluctuation in ratings and often an inflated quantity of higher ratings. If you only rate things 4-5 stars, how am I supposed to be able to identify your favourites? Changing your rating later after the experience has faded isn't "Character Growth" that's just how the human brain processes emotions.

Lastly, if you are recommending things to someone, why on Earth are you also providing a rating? If you offer me three films and tell me one is 3.5 stars, but the others are 5 stars, do you honestly think someone is likely to watch the 3.5? It might have been more to my taste, which is why someone recommended it but even if I do watch it, it'll lead to the same issues with quality ratings, of looking for flaws. Include reviews and the reasons for your recommendations by all means, in fact please do! This is hugely helpful to find things that I might enjoy, and helps people understand you. Don't tell me you think there's no talent in it.

Leave criticism to the critics, and just tell me what you enjoy about the things you enjoy!