Personalization isn’t broken. It’s overconfident

Personalization goes wrong when it treats a moment like a permanent identity.

You click one thing out of curiosity and the app decides: 'This is you now.'
But real life changes constantly.

Examples you’ve probably lived:

• One 'gym' search → fitness feed forever
• One breakup song → weeks of 'healing' content
• One expensive product click → 'high spender' assumptions
• one travel plan → now your feed is only travel

The problem isn’t personalization. It’s premature certainty.

Here’s a simple fix model:

• Soft personalization first (reorder content, don’t replace it)
• Confirm big shifts ('Still into this?')

Let users correct it (mute topic, reset, show less)

Longer breakdown + timings

Debate: When should personalization start?
A) After 1–2 actions
B) After patterns (5–10 actions)
C) Only after explicit preferences
Pick A/B/C + share a good/bad example.