{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]],"date-time":"2026-05-12T03:28:42Z","timestamp":1778556522451,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":96,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2014,6,23]],"date-time":"2014-06-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1403481600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2016,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>How does algorithmic information processing affect the meaning of the word culture, and, by extension, cultural practice? We address this question by focusing on the Netflix Prize (2006\u20132009), a contest offering US$1m to the first individual or team to boost the accuracy of the company\u2019s existing movie recommendation system by 10%. Although billed as a technical challenge intended for engineers, we argue that the Netflix Prize was equally an effort to reinterpret the meaning of culture in ways that overlapped with, but also diverged in important respects from, the three dominant senses of the term assayed by Raymond Williams. Thus, this essay explores the conceptual and semantic work required to render algorithmic information processing systems legible as forms of cultural decision making. It also then represents an effort to add depth and dimension to the concept of \u201calgorithmic culture.\u201d<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444814538646","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2014,6,24]],"date-time":"2014-06-24T02:14:34Z","timestamp":1403576074000},"page":"117-137","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":335,"title":["Recommended for you: The Netflix Prize and the production of algorithmic culture"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Blake","family":"Hallinan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Indiana University, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ted","family":"Striphas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Indiana University, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2014,6,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Algorist (2008) Need account to get recommendations. Forum Post. Available at: http:\/\/www.netflixprize.com\/community\/viewtopic.php?pid=6147-p6147 (accessed 19 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr2-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Amatriain X (2009) The Netflix Prize: lessons learned. TechnoCalifornia, 29 September. Available at: http:\/\/technocalifornia.blogspot.com\/2009\/09\/netflix-prize-lessons-learned.html (accessed 19 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr3-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Amatriain X, Basilico J (2012) Netflix recommendations: beyond the 5 stars (part 1). Netflix Tech Blog, 6 April. Available at: http:\/\/techblog.netflix.com\/2012\/04\/netflix-recommendations-beyond-5-stars.html (accessed 17 June 2013)."},{"key":"bibr4-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Andreeva N (2011) Netflix to enter original programming with mega deal for David Fincher-Kevin Spacey series \u201cHouse Of Cards.\u201d Deadline.com, 15 March. Available at: http:\/\/www.deadline.com\/2011\/03\/netflix-to-enter-original-programming-with-mega-deal-for-david-fincher-kevin-spacey-drama-series-house-of-cards\/ (accessed 19 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr5-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511802072"},{"key":"bibr6-1461444814538646","unstructured":"\u201cA Single Customer That Rated 17,000 Movies\u201d (2006\u20132007) Forum. Available at: http:\/\/www.netflixprize.com\/\/community\/viewtopic.php?id=141 (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr7-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Austin D (n.d.) We recommend a singular value decomposition. Feature Column. Available at: http:\/\/www.ams.org\/samplings\/feature-column\/fcarc-svd (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr8-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780195064834.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr9-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/09332480.2010.10739787"},{"key":"bibr10-1461444814538646","first-page":"63","volume-title":"New Keywords: A Revised Vocabulary of Culture and Society","author":"Bennett T","year":"2005"},{"key":"bibr11-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1215\/9780822394716"},{"key":"bibr12-1461444814538646","first-page":"143","volume-title":"Private Screenings: Television and the Female Consumer","author":"Bodroghkozy A","year":"1992"},{"key":"bibr13-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.17077\/etd.h78g1046"},{"key":"bibr14-1461444814538646","volume-title":"Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste","author":"Bourdieu P","year":"1984"},{"key":"bibr15-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Bump P (2013) Half of Internet traffic in North America is just to watch Netflix and YouTube. The Wire, 14 May. Available at: http:\/\/www.thewire.com\/technology\/2013\/05\/netflix-youtube-traffic\/65210\/ (accessed 19 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr16-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Chander (2008) More on \u201cA new Corporate Organization Model.\u201d CDOQ, 30 December. Available at: http:\/\/cdoq.blogspot.com\/2008\/12\/more-on-new-corporate-organization.html (accessed 20 March 2014)."},{"key":"bibr17-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0263276411424420"},{"key":"bibr18-1461444814538646","volume-title":"A Consumers\u2019 Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America","author":"Cohen L","year":"2003"},{"key":"bibr19-1461444814538646","volume-title":"An All-Consuming Century: Why Commercialism Won in Modern America","author":"Cross GS","year":"2000"},{"key":"bibr20-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Curtis A (2002) The Century of the Self (240 minutes). BBC Four."},{"key":"bibr21-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1353\/aq.2006.0056"},{"key":"bibr22-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Duhigg C (2012) How companies learn your secrets. The New York Times, 16 February. Available at: http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/02\/19\/magazine\/shopping-habits.html (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr23-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Ellenberg J (2008) This psychologist might outsmart the math brains competing for the Netflix Prize. Wired, March. Available at: http:\/\/archive.wired.com\/techbiz\/media\/magazine\/16-03\/mf_netflix?currentPage=all (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr24-1461444814538646","volume-title":"Profiling Machines: Mapping the Personal Information Economy","author":"Elmer G","year":"2004"},{"key":"bibr25-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/9780262050937.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr26-1461444814538646","unstructured":"\u201cEver Wonder Why Netflix Was Doing So Well?\u201d (2007) Discussion forum, 17 October. Available at: http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/comments\/5yhx5\/every_wonder_why_netflix_is_doing_so_well_check (accessed 2 April 2014)."},{"key":"bibr27-1461444814538646","volume-title":"Captains of Consciousness: Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture","author":"Ewen S","year":"2001"},{"key":"bibr28-1461444814538646","unstructured":"\u201cFacts about Google and Competition\u201d (n.d.) Google Competition. Available at: http:\/\/googlecompetition.blogspot.com (accessed 6 June 2014)."},{"key":"bibr29-1461444814538646","unstructured":"\u201cFemale Contestants\u201d (2009) Forum. Available at: http:\/\/www.netflixprize.com\/community\/viewtopic.php?pid=9141 (accessed 1 April 2014)."},{"key":"bibr30-1461444814538646","volume-title":"Gaming: Essays on Algorithmic Culture","author":"Galloway AR","year":"2006"},{"key":"bibr31-1461444814538646","volume-title":"The Panoptic Sort: A Political Economy of Personal Information","author":"Gandy OH","year":"1993"},{"key":"bibr32-1461444814538646","first-page":"35","volume-title":"Resisting the Virtual Life: The Culture and Politics of Information","author":"Gandy OH","year":"1995"},{"key":"bibr33-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/7253.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr34-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Gillespie T (2011) Can an algorithm be wrong? Twitter trends, the specter of censorship, and our faith in the algorithms around us. Culture Digitally. Available at: http:\/\/culturedigitally.org\/2011\/10\/can-an-algorithm-be-wrong\/ (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr35-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/9042.003.0013"},{"key":"bibr36-1461444814538646","volume-title":"Chaosmosis: An Ethico-Aesthetic Paradigm","author":"Guattari F","year":"1995"},{"key":"bibr37-1461444814538646","volume-title":"The Hidden Dimension","author":"Hall ET","year":"1966"},{"key":"bibr38-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Hastings R (2011) An explanation and some reflections. Netflix US & Canada Blog, 18 September. Available at: http:\/\/blog.netflix.com\/2011\/09\/explanation-and-some-reflections.html (accessed 10 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr39-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226321394.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr40-1461444814538646","volume-title":"The Fifth Hammer: Pythagoras and the Disharmony of the World","author":"Heller-Roazen D","year":"2011"},{"key":"bibr41-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Jane Doe v. Netflix\n                      (2009) Original complaint, 17 December (United States District Court for the Northern District of California). Available at: http:\/\/www.wired.com\/images_blogs\/threatlevel\/2009\/12\/doe-v-netflix.pdf (accessed 10 December 2013)."},{"key":"bibr42-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Karpel A (2012) Netflix\u2019s head of content Sarandos queues up an original programming strategy. Fast Company Create, 2 February. Available at: http:\/\/www.fastcocreate.com\/1679595\/netflixs-head-of-content-sarandos-queues-up-an-original-programming-strategy (accessed 19 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr43-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0263276406069882"},{"key":"bibr44-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0263276406069881"},{"key":"bibr45-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1345448.1345465"},{"key":"bibr46-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/MC.2009.263"},{"key":"bibr47-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Krakovsky M (2009) Award-winning paper reveals key to Netflix Prize. Communications of the ACM. Available at: http:\/\/cacm.acm.org\/news\/32450-award-winning-paper-reveals-key-to-netflix-prize\/fulltext (accessed 10 December 2013)."},{"key":"bibr48-1461444814538646","volume-title":"Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions","author":"Kroeber AL","year":"1963"},{"key":"bibr49-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780199256044.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr50-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Levy S (2010) How Google\u2019s algorithm rules the web. Wired, March. Available at: http:\/\/www.wired.com\/magazine\/2010\/02\/ff_google_algorithm\/ (accessed 17 September 2013)."},{"key":"bibr51-1461444814538646","volume-title":"In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives","author":"Levy S","year":"2011"},{"key":"bibr52-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Lohr S (2009) A $1 million research bargain for Netflix, and maybe a model for others. The New York Times, 22 September. Available at: http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/09\/22\/technology\/internet\/22netflix.html (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr53-1461444814538646","volume-title":"The Television Will Be Revolutionized","author":"Lotz AD","year":"2007"},{"key":"bibr54-1461444814538646","unstructured":"McCord P (2014) How Netflix reinvented HR. Harvard Business Review, January\u2013February. Available at: http:\/\/hbr.org\/2014\/01\/how-netflix-reinvented-hr\/ar\/1 (accessed 2 April 2014)."},{"key":"bibr55-1461444814538646","volume-title":"Masscult and Midcult","author":"Macdonald D","year":"1961"},{"key":"bibr56-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Madrigal A (2014) How Netflix reverse engineered Hollywood. The Atlantic, 2 January. Available at: http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/technology\/archive\/2014\/01\/how-netflix-reverse-engineered-hollywood\/282679\/ (accessed 29 March 2014)."},{"key":"bibr57-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Manjoo F (2009) The Netflix Prize was brilliant. Slate. Available at: http:\/\/www.slate.com\/articles\/technology\/technology\/2009\/09\/the_netflix_prize_was_brilliant.html (accessed 10 December 2013)."},{"key":"bibr58-1461444814538646","volume-title":"Ethnography through Thick and Thin","author":"Marcus GE","year":"1998"},{"key":"bibr59-1461444814538646","volume-title":"When Old Technologies Were New: Thinking About Electric Communication in the Late Nineteenth Century","author":"Marvin C","year":"1988"},{"key":"bibr60-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Miller A (2009) Netflix Prize conclusion. The Ensemble, 22 September. Available at: http:\/\/www.the-ensemble.com\/content\/netflix-prize-conclusion (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr61-1461444814538646","volume-title":"Culture\/Metaculture","author":"Mulhern F","year":"2000"},{"key":"bibr62-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Narayanan A, Shmatikov V (2006\u20132008) How to break anonymity of the Netflix Prize dataset. arXiv e-print. Available at: http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/cs\/0610105 (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr63-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Netflix Delivers 1 Billionth DVD (2007) Msnbc.com, 25 March. Available at: http:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/id\/17331123\/ns\/business-us_business\/t\/netflix-delivers-billionth-dvd\/ (accessed 19 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr64-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Netflix Prize Forum (n.d.) http:\/\/www.netflixprize.com\/community\/ (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr65-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Netflix Prize Leaderboard (n.d.) http:\/\/www.netflixprize.com\/leaderboard (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr66-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Netflix Prize (n.d.) http:\/\/www.netflixprize.com (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr67-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Netflix Prize Rules (n.d.) http:\/\/www.netflixprize.com\/\/rules (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr68-1461444814538646","unstructured":"\u201cNetflix\u2014A Powerful Example in Branding\u201d (2007) Image and comment, 17 October. Available at: https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/bruceclay\/1606068204\/ (accessed 2 April 2014)."},{"key":"bibr69-1461444814538646","volume-title":"The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding From You","author":"Pariser E","year":"2011"},{"key":"bibr70-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Patel N (2007) Learning from Netflix\u2019s rules for success. Search Engine Journal, 18 October. Available at: http:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/learning-from-netflixs-rules-for-success\/55282\/ (accessed 2 April 2014)."},{"key":"bibr71-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Piatetsky-Shapiro G (2007) Interview with Simon Funk: why SVD approach? KDnuggets, 24 April. Available at: http:\/\/www.kdnuggets.com\/news\/2007\/n08\/6i.html (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr72-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Prodigious (2006) A single customer that rated 17,000 movies. Forum Post. Available at: http:\/\/www.netflixprize.com\/community\/viewtopic.php?pid=627#p627 (accessed 6 June 2014)."},{"key":"bibr73-1461444814538646","unstructured":"PragmaticTheory\n                      (2008) You want the truth, you can\u2019t HANDLE the truth! PragmaticTheory, 3 August. Available at: http:\/\/pragmatictheory.blogspot.com\/2008\/08\/you-want-truth-you-cant-handle-truth.html (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr74-1461444814538646","volume-title":"A Feeling for Books: The Book-of-the-Month Club, Literary Taste, and Middle-Class Desire","author":"Radway JA","year":"1997"},{"key":"bibr75-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Rose L (2013) Netflix\u2019s Ted Sarandos reveals his \u201cPhase 2\u201d for Hollywood. The Hollywood Reporter, 22 May. Available at: http:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/news\/netflixs-ted-sarandos-reveals-his-526323 (accessed 19 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr76-1461444814538646","volume-title":"The Making of Middlebrow Culture","author":"Rubin JS","year":"1992"},{"key":"bibr77-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Rubin (2007) Todd speaks: 1\/2 Stars. Netflix Tech Blog, 6 August. Available at: http:\/\/blog.netflix.com\/2007\/08\/todd-speaks-12-stars.html (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr78-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Sabah M (2012) Mohammad Sabah\u2014Hadoop Summit 2012\u2014theCUBE. Available at: http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9h6wQXuke_E&feature=youtube_gdata_player (accessed 19 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr79-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Schneider L (n.d.) Working at Netflix\u2014reasons to work at Netflix. About.com. Available at: http:\/\/jobsearchtech.about.com\/od\/companyprofiles\/a\/Netflix_3.htm (accessed 2 April 2014)."},{"key":"bibr80-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Schonfeld E (2011) Netflix now the largest single source of Internet traffic in North America. TechCrunch, 17 May. Available at: http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2011\/05\/17\/netflix-largest-internet-traffic\/ (accessed 19 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr81-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Singel R (2010) Netflix cancels recommendation contest after privacy lawsuit. Wired, 12 March. Available at: http:\/\/www.wired.com\/threatlevel\/2010\/03\/netflix-cancels-contest\/ (accessed 19 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr82-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Slavin K (2011) How algorithms shape our world. TEDGlobal. Available at: http:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/kevin_slavin_how_algorithms_shape_our_world.html (accessed 15 February 2013)."},{"key":"bibr83-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Slee T (2009) Netflix Prize: was the\n                      Napoleon Dynamite\n                      problem solved? Available at: http:\/\/whimsley.typepad.com\/whimsley\/2009\/10\/netflix-prize-was-the-napoleon-dynamite-problem-solved.html (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr84-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Spangler T (2013) Netflix video puts even more strain on the Internet. Variety, 14 May. Available at: http:\/\/variety.com\/2013\/digital\/news\/netflix-puts-even-more-strain-on-the-internet-1200480561\/ (accessed 19 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr85-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1215\/9780822386278"},{"key":"bibr86-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Striphas T (2012) What is an Algorithm? Culture Digitally. Available at: http:\/\/culturedigitally.org\/2012\/02\/what-is-an-algorithm\/ (accessed 15 February 2013)."},{"key":"bibr87-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Thompson C (2008) If you liked this, you\u2019re sure to love that. The New York Times, 23 November. Available at: http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2008\/11\/23\/magazine\/23Netflix-t.html (accessed 18 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr88-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.36019\/9780813561110"},{"key":"bibr89-1461444814538646","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1525\/9780520948693"},{"key":"bibr90-1461444814538646","unstructured":"Vanderbilt T (2013) The science behind the Netflix algorithms that decide what you\u2019ll watch next. Wired, August. Available at: http:\/\/www.wired.com\/underwire\/2013\/08\/qq_netflix-algorithm\/ (accessed 19 November 2013)."},{"key":"bibr91-1461444814538646","volume-title":"Culture and Society, 1780\u20131950","author":"Williams R","year":"1958"},{"key":"bibr92-1461444814538646","volume-title":"Marxism and Literature","author":"Williams R","year":"1977"},{"key":"bibr93-1461444814538646","volume-title":"Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society","author":"Williams R","year":"1983"},{"key":"bibr94-1461444814538646","first-page":"3","volume-title":"Resources of Hope: Culture, Democracy, Socialism","author":"Williams R","year":"1989"},{"key":"bibr95-1461444814538646","volume-title":"The Long Revolution","author":"Williams R","year":"2001"},{"key":"bibr96-1461444814538646","volume-title":"Point of Purchase: How Shopping Changed American Culture","author":"Zukin S","year":"2004"}],"container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1461444814538646","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/1461444814538646","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/1461444814538646","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,2]],"date-time":"2026-05-02T03:42:12Z","timestamp":1777693332000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/1461444814538646"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2014,6,23]]},"references-count":96,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2016,1]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/1461444814538646"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1461444814538646","relation":{},"ISSN":["1461-4448","1461-7315"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1461-4448","type":"print"},{"value":"1461-7315","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2014,6,23]]}}}