Abstract: Techniques are provided with which a subscriber to a media viewing service, which is configured for viewing media items such as TV shows or movies using streaming video delivery or other viewing techniques, may recommend one or more played or viewed media items to one or more friends in media viewing services or social networking systems that the subscriber uses. The subscriber may receive notifications when the friends view or play the recommended media items, and may contribute implicit feedback to a separate recommendation system regarding a recommended media item even when the subscriber has not explicitly rated the recommended media item. Subscribers also receive rapid indications, at the time that the subscribers are preparing to make recommendations of media items, about whether friends have already played or viewed the media items. In one embodiment, a recommendation may be communicated to a selected friend using a single operation of a pointing device.