[QUOTE=Winner;45532930]i think sites like facebook and okcupid experimenting on their users is a great idea tbh[/QUOTE]
Maybe not so much with okcupid considering you actually meet up with the person.
[QUOTE=Winner;45532930]i think sites like facebook and okcupid experimenting on their users is a great idea tbh[/QUOTE]
When you join a social site you expect it to function as a service to interact with other people. Their already making tons of money via selling your data and filling the sides of your pages with advertisements. As a user of the site you expect to at least get what you visited the site for properly delivered. By using you as a lab rat this site is dishonestly not delivering what you were promised by joining it.
[QUOTE=matt000024;45532957]When you join a social site you expect it to function as a service to interact with other people. Their already making tons of money via selling your data and filling the sides of your pages with advertisements. As a user of the site you expect to at least get what you visited the site for properly delivered. By using you as a lab rat this site is dishonestly not delivering what you were promised by joining it.[/QUOTE]
And violating scientific codes of conduct - if I wanted to do experiments like this (as an actual scientist), I'd have to take my proposal to an ethics board, who if they didn't shoot it down, would tell me that my participants would have to be willing and informed that they are taking part in an experiment (But I don't necessarily need to tell them exactly what hypothesis the data is going to be used to test)
[QUOTE=massaki;45532938]Maybe not so much with okcupid considering you actually meet up with the person.[/QUOTE]
the whole site is just a complex algorithm crunching system anyway
they run tests and experiments all the time
You wouldn't want your participants to know they were in the test else it'd ruin the test; thats why they should be told the second the test is over with
[QUOTE=Map in a box;45536977]You wouldn't want your participants to know they were in the test else it'd ruin the test; thats why they should be told the second the test is over with[/QUOTE]
Oh hey we swapped out your profile pic with the dick-picks you were sending prospective dates in the chat - don't worry though, it was just for a few days and it was all part of an experiment. You couldn't see the changes at the time - it'd ruin the test - but it's no biggie right? We told you now that's done so we're all cool.
Well great I'm gay now look what you have done
A bit scummy but honestly what did they expect the tests to reveal? That people would talk to people they said they were a match with? Wow great deduction there sherlock, next maybe you'll find out that people talk more with people they think are attractive :v:
[QUOTE=Map in a box;45536977]You wouldn't want your participants to know they were in the test else it'd ruin the test; thats why they should be told the second the test is over with[/QUOTE]
Psychologists get around that all the time though, you simply tell them they're being tested for something else, so any attempt to moderate their behaviour is simply moderating for something else and doesn't meaningfully influence what you're actually attempting to study.
[QUOTE=Craigewan;45532992]And violating scientific codes of conduct - if I wanted to do experiments like this (as an actual scientist), I'd have to take my proposal to an ethics board, who if they didn't shoot it down, would tell me that my participants would have to be willing and informed that they are taking part in an experiment (But I don't necessarily need to tell them exactly what hypothesis the data is going to be used to test)[/QUOTE]
Companies experiment with how customers react to certain products, colors, tastes, store layouts, brands, how employees act, etc etc etc
This isn't different.
[QUOTE=Elspin;45537470]A bit scummy but honestly what did they expect the tests to reveal? That people would talk to people they said they were a match with? Wow great deduction there sherlock, next maybe you'll find out that people talk more with people they think are attractive :v:[/QUOTE]
I think it was more about how far they would go just based upon a websites recommendation.
[QUOTE=Rubs10;45538272]Companies experiment with how customers react to certain products, colors, tastes, store layouts, brands, how employees act, etc etc etc
This isn't different.[/QUOTE]
Actually, it is. This isn't an experiment that advances their product in any way, this is an experiment on their users to find something out about the psychology of dating and attraction mediated by others. Which means it is science. Which means it was shittily and unethically conducted.
Just because they do it without permission doesn't make it right. If actual, approved Scientists were doing this, we'd be mired in ethical questions and red tape, because that is right, to make sure that we don't fuck people over.
But it does improve their service by them ensuring that they're not actually wrongly matching people that make terrible pairs
[QUOTE=matt000024;45532957]When you join a social site you expect it to function as a service to interact with other people. Their already making tons of money via selling your data and filling the sides of your pages with advertisements. As a user of the site you expect to at least get what you visited the site for properly delivered. By using you as a lab rat this site is dishonestly not delivering what you were promised by joining it.[/QUOTE]
You're completely missing the point that the experiments help them actually improve the service. If you never test that you're actually doing the job you're trying to do, how do you really know you're doing it well at all? You don't.
That explains so much.
[quote]"This shows how easy it is for a company to put at risk the trust that users place in them," Daniel Tozer, a commercial technology partner at the law firm Harbottle and Lewis, told the BBC. "There are data protection issues when you're using users' personal information, especially when it appears OKCupid are actually changing things on the page.
"If you're doing anything extremely unusual with people's data, and I would argue this is the case here, it's always best to seek the consent of your users first." [/quote]
People sign up for OKCupid with their personal information, and then they take that information and compare it with information gathered from others. Then they send that information to other users to connect with them. The only difference between connecting users with good matches vs bad matches is an arbitrary number generated by a computer. Exactly the same public information is sent in both cases. If you have an issue with them sending that information to people deemed as "bad" matches by the computer then obviously you must have issues with them sending it to "good matches, and you need to stop using this service.
Data is not being mishandled. There are no data protection issues here.
[editline]29th July 2014[/editline]
If anything about this actually breaches their TOS, let me know. Otherwise there's nothing to be angry about.
This is a great idea, it may sound cliche but opposites really do attract and hopefully after this more people will realize that.
imagine being paired with a guy with a sonic fetish
[QUOTE=Craigewan;45532992]And violating scientific codes of conduct - if I wanted to do experiments like this (as an actual scientist), I'd have to take my proposal to an ethics board, who if they didn't shoot it down, would tell me that my participants would have to be willing and informed that they are taking part in an experiment (But I don't necessarily need to tell them exactly what hypothesis the data is going to be used to test)[/QUOTE]
I'm willing to bet OkCupid has a line of text in their Terms of Service stating that users may be subject to corporate research, just like Facebook did. As long as that line's there, they're in the clear as far as I'm concerned, not to mention the law.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.
