I don't understand why engagement is the right metric here. If someone isn't sure how they feel about a movie, why is it a benefit to have them spew their half-formed thoughts into a like/dislike rating?
That's pretty harsh.
I've watched plenty of movies that I enjoyed and would give a thumbs up but aren't sure whether it should be a 3 or 4 star movie. There's movies I love but consider too flawed to give 5 stars. And I find little difference between 1 and 2 stars other than the level of regret for wasting my time.
Overall I rarely bother rating things on Netflix because it just doesn't feel worth it. So they get nothing out of me, whereas with a thumbs up or down I am more likely to chime in.
You could say "well that's the same as not rating it!" but it's not. I'd like there to be a clear distinction between "I abstain from voting" and "I thought this content neither vomit-inducing nor life-changing."
many has more value than
thougthgful one from few
The goal isn't making a database of the "best" and "worst" movies and TV shows. We already have the International Movie Database for that. This is just about finding out what you like, and finding other stuff like it.
Seriously. Lots of low fidelity measurement is sometimes better than a smaller amount of higher fidelity measurement. Especially when that higher fidelity measurement has errors.