I think social networking sites like MySpace and LinkedIn can help avoid your concerns that they may be gamed.

If you look at your network as ripples of influence starting out from you, you may be more inclined to trust your best friend’s recommendation vs. mine, you may trust my recommendation more than that of the guy you met at a recent networking event just once. Thus, I think it’d be important to add a higher value to the opinions of those closer to you.

This, is where social networking sites can score big.

What do you think?
Mario

“My question to you: “Would you buy a product/service because I recommend it?””

I would be more inclined to listen to what you say. Generally speaking, if I buy something online, I do the following with reviews:

1. Look at how many reviews are actually written positively/negatively. I look for reviews of at least 20+, largely because a smaller number is much less reliable.

2. Look at professional reviews about the product as well.

3. Compare the product to what my actual needs are, while also using the information in #1 & #2.

I think the real value is that people can become aware of products/services/sites that they may not have been aware of…I think that’s where the “products you might also like…” features are interesting on shopping web sites.

Concerns:
Recommendations/reviews can be gamed.

You’re right! The post by Pete (Mashable) actually talks about MySpace as a bona fide music label and now upcoming video label as well.

I’m sure that selling products is a natural progression, but I’m not sure if that’s the best way to leverage community – to sell stuff.

We’ll soon find out if they succeed on that count.

Mario

Netflix’s killer friends service is another great example of extending friend’s recommendations into actual purchases.

It just seems like a natural extension. Recommendations are already happening, but it saves some of the leg work.