I've never been a super fan of the 1-10, 1-100, or 5 start system. I recently toyed with the idea of a granular system where you can rate, acting, story, writing, etc. and the average would be you're overall score. People didn't like this either. (i thought it was a good idea but i guess its just too much to think about. So i just had an idea for a system that's different, fun and more user friendly.
What if...There were a handful of preselected short phrases to choose from that are common ways people would describe your thoughts. Reviewers click all that apply.
Then, the rating is a bar graph of the phrases people picked the most .
Phrase idea examples: Perfect, Breath of Fresh Air, Hidden Gem, Worth the Watch, Not the Worst, Could've Been Better, Could've Been Worse, Exceeded expectations, Let Down, But Why.
Is that something you'd mess with? Am I onto something? What phrases would you want to see there
I would rate your rating system as: incoherent, obtuse, unnecessary, ugly, meandering, shoddy, frustrating...
14
RepulsiveLoquat418Apr 17, 2026
+2
you can both share the "but why" rating
2
longjumpingtoteApr 17, 2026
+2
It's basically just a review summarized at that point.
2
DontUnderDoItApr 17, 2026
lol that gave me a good laugh. but also an idea, what if the rating system was standard but the review system was phrasey, People would probably be more likely to tap a few bubbles than type out a review. or maybe after some phrases are chosen it turns into a poll? maybe people could write in their own custom <5 word reviews and others could click on em if they agree...
just spitballing but i feel like there could be something there
0
Sonichu-Apr 17, 2026
+6
That feels less intuitive.
If someone says something is 4 stars, I can reason that they enjoyed it but it wasn’t mind blowing.
If someone says a show is a “breath of fresh air”, I don’t know what they mean if they don’t elaborate. Why? Compared to what?
6
Crafty_Honey5401Apr 17, 2026
+3
Your system reminds me of those survey forms where you select multiple emotions after watching something. Problem is those phrases mean different things to different people - like "exceeded expectations" could be anything from "better than garbage" to "actually amazing."
The granular breakdown you mentioned first might work better if it was simpler? Like just 3 categories instead of every detail. But yeah, most people want to click once and move on.
3
longjumpingtoteApr 17, 2026
+1
Right.
> Let Down
Maybe someone was let down that it wasn't longer, or shorter, or that it didn't have full-frontal nudity.
> Exceeded expectations
But what were those expectations, low or high?
1
HaikoudenApr 17, 2026
+3
This feels completely useless for accurately reviewing anything, as compared to just describing in your own words it takes away nearly all creativity, but it also seems essentially analagous to a 1-10 or 5 star system.
Perfect is just a 100 or 5 stars, breath of fresh air sounds like it could be a 4 or 5 star, hidden gem also just means very good, etc. And some of them are useless like "exceeded expectations" because unless we know what the expectations of the reviewer were, it means nothing. But they're also more open to intepretation than numerical ratings which makes it harder to get an idea of what people actually think (EG "could've been better" just means not perfect, or could mean pretty good, or could mean bad).
It's worse in every way than every system that's currently popular as far as I can see.
3
longjumpingtoteApr 17, 2026
+1
The more granular you get, the more *specific* you need to get, and the more you need to know the person rating it.
All I really want out of a rating system is "4 stars for what it is."
Otherwise we're comparing horror to romcoms and documentaries, and a lot of people rate on the same scale.
When I rate something five stars, that means it's a great movie. But what about "Dude, Where's My Car?" If you're rating on the "for what it is" scale, it gets 4 stars, *for a dumb 2000s comedy.* But rating it 4 stars compared to Inception, doesn't make any sense.
1
JodieFostersStareApr 17, 2026
+1
That rating system would be completely ignorable. It brings no clarity at all.
1
Hour_Specialist_4291Apr 17, 2026
+1
Netflix ratings:
-Not for me
-Liked it
-Loved it
Problem solved
Or
👍
👎
11 Comments