A guy asked me not long ago is TriYou more of a social site or a recommendation engine. I think for the main purpose we want to serve it would best be labeled a recommendation engine, or maybe recommendation engine plus, if you will. Once the Top Ten are filled out you will be directed to other users with similar tastes, as I have stated ad nauseam. From there I sincerely believe you will get the most compelling, relevant, unique, lasting and even life changing recommendations/suggestions you can find anywhere. In TriYou's first iteration, without many users, I found some amazing music, i.e.. Songs Ohio and Neutral Milk Hotel--some great books, Portnoy's Complaint being one of them and several films I would have missed on-- and I know you can too. Also, with the addition of television series the discoveries should become relatively limitless. These recommendations will be user to user and unlike, for instance, Netflix recommendations, which I find useful a very small percentage of the time (but we will be able to direct you to some great shows on Netflix, Prime, Hulu, HBO et cetera). The more people we get the better it will be for everyone involved so I encourage you to sign up (it's always free) tell your friends and start discovering and sharing at your leisure. We can build the best community of movie, book and film lovers around.
For a little insight on the process of picking my favorites I thought I would discuss what album I chose as my all time number one and the reasons that I chose it--and there are several. It would probably be best that I divulge what I did pick (I know the suspense must be killing you) and I slotted NIrvana's last studio Album, In Uteroin my number one spot. Kurt Cobain came along at the perfect age for me. In Utero came out right near my 16th birthday and I cannot remember awaiting an album release with such excitement before or since--well maybe the White Stripes Icky Thump. I can remember exactly where I was when I heard the first single, "Heart Shaped Box" on the radio and that was in the passenger seat of my friend's Ford Taurus on a desolate country road. After that I could not wait to hear the entire release and I certainily was not dissapointed. Lyrically it might be my favorite ever and it starts off very strong, "Teenage angst has paid off well, now I'm bored and old." I surely do understand those lyrics better now, but they were very striking back then as well. I love the raw sound created on this long player and I have never heard anything quite like it before or since. Its hard to pick just one Nirvana Album, I also think Nevermind is near perfect and I probably listed to Incesticide more than any other in recent times.
I suppose the best place to begin the very first TriYou Blog will be right at the core, the essence, the meat of the site. That being, of course, the Top Ten Lists. Now these should be different for everybody and I imagine the process of creating them will vary widely and that is good in my estimation. It is easiest for me to speak of my process when creating the lists (and mind you I have been thinking about these for a decade and still have tendencies to doubt and make changes). I limited myself in each category: one movie per director, one album per artist and one book per author. I found this made my lists a little more diverse and gave a wider spectrum for others to gauge my tastes, if they are so inclined. I easily could have put three Nirvana albums, three Kubrick films and all of Henry Miller's books in my lists, but thought that would be somewhat limiting and sort of defeat the purpose of my original intention for this project. That being, shortly put, providing a member of TriYou a quick and easy way to glance at another member's profile and see if they share similar interests (and if so follow that member) and get the best recommendations, suggestions and discoveries in these fields when said member posts, recommends or suggests what they are reading, listening to or watching. But remember they are your lists--put some thought into them and post whatever you want! Imagine if you follow ten members with similar tastes the possibility for new discoveries that could provide--now imagine what it could be ifyou follow one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand...
I have heard from many people, "its so hard to narrow it down to just ten." I agree, it really is, but that is much of the fun and challenge of creating your lists. It forces you to think just what your favorites are and why they are so dear to you. Anyway, they are YOUR lists you can develop them any way you want and change your list anytime you feel like it. They are designed to be fun, but maybe more importantly a building block to the ability to find the most relevant, compelling, unique and even life changing recommendations/suggestions on the web.