I am like you, also wanting a signal before interacting.

I think for me, a big reason is because I'm autistic and I won't be able to perceive any 'cues' from other people, so I default to assuming they don't want to talk unless they're extremely explicit about the opposite.

But I think a lot of people also look for a signal, they're just better able to read it from body language and whatnot?

That's adorable! Does anyone know what kind it is?

Your username makes me think you go around in elliptic orbits just to say NO at things due to your skepticism. :)

No, that sounds like a great use of AI. I would be happy if a non-corporate option could be used for these kind of tasks for those that benefit from it.

For me though, I don't think it's about bad recommendations for books but the idea of seeking recommendations at all. I'm almost never in a "I want to read something but I don't know what" state. If I don't have a book in front of me or in my mental queue, I'm usually doing something else instead. My queue is almost never empty.

I don't follow strangers hoping for recommendations, I just follow someone that I feel an affinity for and sometimes that results in learning about a new book, seeking it and reading it.

The idea of receiving book recommendations feels overwhelming, especially from a system that would find a million interesting things, just for me. But I'm not opposed at all to such a tool existing!

Impressive! And yet the plant seems happy up there?

I may be strange on this, but I have never felt like I need automatic recommendations, and any I have gotten feel more like a nuisance.

I have my list of books on BookWyrm and sometimes I look at it and go like "oh I wonder what this author has been up to" and I look it up, or I participate on some online discussion about what people have read and if something sounds interesting I add it to my BookWyrm list.

I've also added a couple of books from people I follow there, who have interest in common but sometimes add this entirely unexpected book and I get to explore it.

I've been on BookWyrm for a bit and I quite like it. I've actually written my first reviews (something I never did on gr).