[Opinion] Is it me? Is MakerWorld filled with copies and no effort derivatives?

MakerWorld
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Hello everyone, lately I´ve been browsing MakerWorld and I´ve come to the realization that there are way too many copies and low effort derivatives of the same designs. What amazes me is the number of prints and downloads many of them have.

I mostly design and print my own designs, although sometimes I do print ready made designs. I know most people only print what´s available through Handy and that´s ok, but I´ve found that browsing is not a pleasant experience. Even after selecting to not see a certain type of designs, I´ll see something mostly the same just a small scroll down.

I recently watched a video from Zach Friedman and he said to post in a single place so you don´t confuse people with variants of a design and multiple sources of it. He posits that there´s a point where an excess of choice will end up with a refusal to choose. I do feel this is happening to me, I´d like to know if it´s something that happens to any of you as well.

My experience with AliExpress is interesting although not what I would like my experience to turn into in MakerWorld, but whenever I search for a product and click on it, then go back to browsing, my “Feed” includes a lot more of that product than if I didn´t, and it stops pushing that product until I search for something else.

TikTok I´ve found has an amazing algorithm that shows me way more stuff that I want to see than stuff I don´t, along with random stuff that I may or may not like. I do like looking through TikTok.

I also remember Neil De ´Grasse Tyson saying something along the lines that “the algorithm robs you of serendipity”. Kind of like walking the aisles of a store and looking around until you find something interesting you weren´t even looking for or something someone you know and trust has suggested to you.

I´m not sure how I would change MakerWorld´s UX, but I´m thinking of showing more unique designs/concepts on the front page, and after clicking on it, getting all the variants of that design/concept. I´d love to have more ready to print stuff I actually want to print.

Sorry for the rant/disjointed ideas, but I wanted to get it out there.

I´d loke to read your thoughts.

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You’re absolutely right, and Maker World has been trending that way for awhile now.

Bambu needs to come up with a quality metric for items and use them to rank all feeds and search results.

I don’t even bother scrolling the feeds anymore, the number of “joke drill bits” and other useless ■■■■ I get served up is ridiculous.

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You’ve actually already summed it all up in your post, so I can only agree with you.

For example, I used to enjoy checking out the trends over a year ago. I always found something interesting. Today, however, I avoid it like the plague. In fact, I’d rather visit sites where I pay a few dollars for guaranteed quality - keyword: actually printable. An added bonus is that I’m effectively supporting the designer.

These days, I only use MakerWorld for decorations, not for myself, but when my family wants something.

Considering that most people now use MakerWorld via the mobile app, it’s just mainstream stuff. That’s not necessarily a bad thing - after all, everyone enjoys fast food occasionally. However, if you’re looking for real breakthroughs in 3D printing, you’ll need to visit other websites and be prepared to pay a few dollars.

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There are a bunch of good designers here too posting quality stuff. :grin:

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Repositories have an inverse usefulness paradox. Start empty. Fill with stuff. More stuff in it, the better, right? It’s a repo, it holds stuff. But the good stuff always gets harder to find as time goes on and the amount of stuff in the repo starts stressing the organization scheme.

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I assume moderation is a serious challenge but Wikipedia managed to more or less figure it out. Why is it so hard to emulate that? I am worried that the answer to Bambu is that they think that quantity of content is superior to quality of content. I kind of get it, people gather up wherever the action is. It just seems to me that surely there is a way to find a bit of a balance between gathering stuff and people and having stuff and people worth dealing with.

On the other hand it seems that the internet disagrees with me so maybe I am just naive to wish that we could have better things. You were the chosen one Bambu! It was said you would destroy the Sith, not join them… wait I think I am misquoting this.

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