So I decide to expand my bubble by including this specific person, and stuff recommended by them.

Yeah, that's the kind of thing I'm thinking of.

If you allow ideological self tagging, you could also let the Wisdom of the Idiots pick their champion. One automatic method is upping the people someone responds to.

There are a lot of simple options that would go a long way, particularly since right now you're lucky to get thumbs up, thumbs down. The Web 5 Zillion is really pitiful in this regard.