Spout: social networking to find new films

Have you ever sat down and wondered what would happen if you were to crossbreed MySpace with NetFlix? If you have, perhaps it might be time to re-take a biology course or two you freak. How the hell did you plan on forcing two internet services/sites to mate? You need a hobby, you weirdo. But if you managed to get past the obvious physical hangups and somehow allowed yourself to believe those two could have a lovechild, it might have looked something like Spout. While the name of this crossbreed is nowhere near as giggle-inducing as the fabled Beefalo, Spout is a lot more useful to the average person.

Spout users each have a personal profile, which is dynamically updated as the users give their opinions on movies. These views are used to build lists of recommended movies for users based on their interests. They've been operating for some time now, but have been adding new features. Most notably a feature called Moviemind. It works by taking a movie title and then finding other movies for you that are similar. The social networking side allows you to meet up with other users who have similar tastes, and mine them for new movie ideas. You know, things that people used to do with real friends. Remember those things? Real friends? No? You're right, the internet knows you better than your real friends ever did anyway. Take its advice.