I'm a graduate student in a doctoral Information
Studies program. This means I've read a lot of different books about
data and the internet. I've also done a little of my own research into
social media and, specifically, OKCupid.
Dataclysm's
author, Christian Rudder, was one of the founders of OKCupid, and has
turned data mined from the site's millions of interactions into an
interesting view of the patterns of behavior of the online dater.
The
book is informative, intriguing, and at times pretty funny. Rudder's
writing style is accessible and conversational, bringing trends and
statistics from the academic set to the casual reader.
Much of
the data is focused on heterosexual coupling, which was a bit
disappointing, but Rudder indicates late in the book that there were few
differences when you looked at data about gay or bisexual users. That
in itself is interesting, because if, like straight men, gay men prefer
younger partners, how does that translate? Obviously both halves of a
couple cannot be younger.
(My other disappointment is that the
advance ebook didn't properly display most of the graphs, though
Rudder's descriptions were clear enough that I was able to understand
what they were showing.)
In the middle of the book, Rudder
discussed some rather interesting and controversial topics like race and
body image. His coverage of the way online daters view race was pretty
comprehensive and a little disturbing -- well, his coverage isn't what
was disturbing, it was more that he found that people are more
discriminating than they would ever admit to. The discussion of body
image was brief, however, and mainly focused on Tumblr's #proana
controversy. I wish he would have looked at some data relating to weight
-- specifically fat -- and online dating.
Overall, however,
this book was fascinating and really pleasant to read. Beyond my own
nerdy and intellectual interest in the subject of social media use and
data, this is a must-read for anyone who wants a look at the habits of
online dating site users and those with concerns for internet privacy.
Verdict: 4/5 stars
Dataclysm will be released September 9, 2014.
I received a free electronic copy of this book through NetGalley. This review is my own uninfluenced opinion.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
What If Chubby Girls in Crop Tops Were A Thing When I Was Younger?
Lately, going through the body-positive part of Tumblr means you'll likely stumble across many pictures of fat chicks wearing crop tops. I think this is awesome, have bought a few myself, and am waiting for the right combination of hot weather and not giving a fuck to actually wear them with naught but a bra underneath as god intended.
I was wearing one over a tank top recently, and it made me think -- what if this trend, and really, the whole body positive movement, had been around when I was a teenager?
My high school experience occurred from 1998 to 2002, so we had the internet, but it was still relatively new (and slow), and things like Tumblr did not yet exist. The closest thing I had ever had to social media was my AOL profile -- I wouldn't even get a LiveJournal until my first semester of college.
So all I had to model myself after was mass media and friends. I didn't get to see shining images of happy fat ladies showing off their belly rolls and batwings. There was no example in my face to let my know it was OK to rock a mini skirt or crop top.
As a chubby teenager, my experience with my body was probably similar to lots of other fat ladies out there. I was uncomfortable in my skin a lot of the time. I had good friends who generally didn't make me feel bad about myself, at least not on purpose -- sometimes comparing myself to them did a number, but that wasn't really their fault. I was on and off diets, I couldn't be quite as trendy as I wanted because the girls' section of PacSun wouldn't get over one thigh. The really overt bullying had mostly stopped in middle school, but I still had plenty of body image issues, many of which I'm not yet over today.
If there had been a fast internet full of social media images where girls who looked like me were rocking their bodies with pride, would I have felt better? Would I have been on fewer of those diets? Maybe the issue of not finding clothes would have been the same, but it's also possible I would have spent less time comparing myself to my in-person peers if I had online ones who made me feel good?
Obviously what-ifs can never really have an answer, but just thinking about it makes me a little bit hopeful. This generation of teenage girls is growing up with something I, and people older than I am, didn't have -- widespread availability of people who look like they do, shown in a positive light.
This is why I'm pro-selfie, and why I so love things like the #everyBODYisflawless video. Women -- well, people of all genders, but especially women -- need to see what regular people look like. We need to see how different everyone is, and how that diversity is beautiful.
I was wearing one over a tank top recently, and it made me think -- what if this trend, and really, the whole body positive movement, had been around when I was a teenager?
My high school experience occurred from 1998 to 2002, so we had the internet, but it was still relatively new (and slow), and things like Tumblr did not yet exist. The closest thing I had ever had to social media was my AOL profile -- I wouldn't even get a LiveJournal until my first semester of college.
So all I had to model myself after was mass media and friends. I didn't get to see shining images of happy fat ladies showing off their belly rolls and batwings. There was no example in my face to let my know it was OK to rock a mini skirt or crop top.
As a chubby teenager, my experience with my body was probably similar to lots of other fat ladies out there. I was uncomfortable in my skin a lot of the time. I had good friends who generally didn't make me feel bad about myself, at least not on purpose -- sometimes comparing myself to them did a number, but that wasn't really their fault. I was on and off diets, I couldn't be quite as trendy as I wanted because the girls' section of PacSun wouldn't get over one thigh. The really overt bullying had mostly stopped in middle school, but I still had plenty of body image issues, many of which I'm not yet over today.
If there had been a fast internet full of social media images where girls who looked like me were rocking their bodies with pride, would I have felt better? Would I have been on fewer of those diets? Maybe the issue of not finding clothes would have been the same, but it's also possible I would have spent less time comparing myself to my in-person peers if I had online ones who made me feel good?
Obviously what-ifs can never really have an answer, but just thinking about it makes me a little bit hopeful. This generation of teenage girls is growing up with something I, and people older than I am, didn't have -- widespread availability of people who look like they do, shown in a positive light.
This is why I'm pro-selfie, and why I so love things like the #everyBODYisflawless video. Women -- well, people of all genders, but especially women -- need to see what regular people look like. We need to see how different everyone is, and how that diversity is beautiful.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
From the Archive: A Short, Angry Letter to Fish's Eddy
"From the Archive" is a series of posts that I wrote on past, no-longer-updated blogs that I feel are good enough to need a new home.
This post was originally written in September 2011.
Have you seen Fish's Eddy's "Intervention Ware"? (This plate is the worst in my opinion.) Well, I just did and they inspired me to write this letter:
I know it's short, and it's not my most eloquently-written angry letter, but it gets the point across. I mean, anything sold with the slogan "serve up a heaping scoop of guilt!" has to be stopped.
This post was originally written in September 2011.
Have you seen Fish's Eddy's "Intervention Ware"? (This plate is the worst in my opinion.) Well, I just did and they inspired me to write this letter:Hi,
I just thought you would be interested to know that I was recently alerted to your "intervention" plates, and as such, I will no longer shop at your store.
We live in a size-biased, fat-hating society that constantly tells women (and men, but it's worse for women) that they are not good enough based on their appearance and their ability to conform to an arbitrary beauty standard. Fat people are discriminated against and mocked. We have girls as young as 5 going on diets and suffering from eating disorders and merchandise like this is contributing to that problem.
I have spent my entire life being bullied based on size and I do not need a store to continue this trend.
You have officially lost a customer. I will soon be moving and, as such, will need dinnerware. Under other circumstances I would have come to your store to get it, but now I think I will take my business to somewhere that doesn't make me feel like less of a person because of my appearance.
I know it's short, and it's not my most eloquently-written angry letter, but it gets the point across. I mean, anything sold with the slogan "serve up a heaping scoop of guilt!" has to be stopped.
Friday, May 16, 2014
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