NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] OkCupid Lied To Users About Their Compatibility As An Experiment
OkCupid Lied To Users About Their Compatibility As An Experiment
(Forbes): http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/07/28/okcupid-experiment-compatibility-deception/
"Ever since the big kerfuffle over Facebooks emotion manipulation
study and the defense that this happens all over the Web all the
time weve been wondering what other experiments we may have been
part of without knowing it. OkCupid came forward Monday with
another one: it shot falsehood-tipped arrows through users hearts
as an experiment. The dating site exhumed its three-year dormant
OkTrends blog which used to share insights into online daters
behavior, but went silent after the company was bought by IAC for
$50 million. In a flippant entry that announces his upcoming book
on data, OkCupid co-founder Christian Rudder defends Facebook,
brags about experiments OkCupids done in the past, and reveals
that at some point the site told people who were poor matches for
each other that they were perfect pairs, and vice versa."
- - -
Like the Facebook "let's try make people depressed" experiment, this
one too should be viewed as a violation of user trust. There is no
harm in experiments that test different versions of user interfaces,
for example. But when you specifically set out to manipulate the
emotions of users in experiments like this, you're taking a big risk.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
I am a consultant to Google -- I speak only for myself, not for them.
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://google.com/+LaurenWeinstein
Twitter: http://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
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