Slog - Comments on The Internet Predicts Your Gender http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender This website can allegedly predict whether you are a man or a woman based on your browsing history. Of course, these sorts of things can often be covers for horrendous computer-buggery, so I bravely volunteered my browsing history to see if something awful would happen. Nothing did, and the website seems on the up and up. I'm also pleased with my results—I came up 98% man, 2% woman, which is maybe the most masculine assessment that's ever been made of me.... Copyright 2008 Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:00:00 -0800 Sat, 02 Aug 2008 23:16:30 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Abby At work, I'm 76% female and 24% male, which I think is accurate enough. I thought it would be higher, considering how much time I spend at work looking up football news, but it doesn't seem to get into specifics about what Guardian site I've been on.

]]> Abby http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091274 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091274 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:18:42 -0800 Comment by Ziggity You'll always be 50/50 in my book, Paul.

]]> Ziggity http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091287 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091287 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:26:31 -0800 Comment by jebus h. xst More interesting than the overall female / male rating is the ratio reported for specific URLs. I can understand, for example, why scienceblogs.com might have a ratio of 1.44 M/F but a 0.79 M/F ratio for irs.gov is a surprise. Among other feminine sites are: apple.com (0.89) and my bank (0.87). NHL.com has a seemingly low M/F of 1.35.

]]> jebus h. xst http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091290 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091290 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:28:46 -0800 Comment by leek Huh. I'm surprised my work browser history has me at 93% female, given how much time I spend on news sites, USS Mariner, istockphoto, etc. I guess, um, eonline.com and bravotv.com sort of sank me. The shame!


]]> leek http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091292 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091292 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:29:20 -0800 Comment by schnoodle Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 93%
Likelihood of you being MALE is 7%

Not bad...

]]> schnoodle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091298 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091298 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:30:31 -0800 Comment by Abby What I find odd is how it pulled up sites in my browser history that I think I've visited only a few times in the past two months, like linkedin or Perez Hilton (or the King5 website, which I visit so rarely that I can actually remember the distinct reason for going there), while not touching the sites I spend the most time on, like the AV Club or NewsNow: Arsenal or something. Odd.

]]> Abby http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091306 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091306 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:34:31 -0800 Comment by C I'm 97% female
3% male

And now my testicles are sad.

]]> C http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091307 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091307 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:36:23 -0800 Comment by leek Abby: It's only selecting sites from this Quantcast Top 10K sites thing, I guess, which I now realize is why something like USS Mariner clearly wouldn't be on there.

]]> leek http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091308 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091308 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:37:50 -0800 Comment by Abby Ahhh. I wonder what it would look like if it actually analyzed my browser history? Most of the sites I visit probably aren't on there. Would I be more female or less?

]]> Abby http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091310 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091310 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:40:18 -0800 Comment by leek It does seem to miss out on things, maybe based on URL discrepancies. avclub.com, for instance, is in the top 10k sites, as is nwsource.com (the base domain for The Seattle Times, the P-I, and all their classified sites), which I go to a gajillion times a day but didn't pop up in my history.

]]> leek http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091314 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091314 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:43:44 -0800 Comment by leek I'm dumb. Never mind, nwsource.com is in there (skews male, too).

]]> leek http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091316 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091316 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:44:37 -0800 Comment by leek thestranger.com, however, is not. slog.thestranger.com must not register as part of the larger site. (thestranger.com is in the top 5k sites!)

]]> leek http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091318 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091318 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:46:25 -0800 Comment by violet_dagrinder Yeah, its limited site recognition can skew things.

It put me at 54% male (I'm a chick). Mostly because I was on mininova.org today; otherwise it would have had me at 50/50.

Which you'd find amusing if you knew me.

]]> violet_dagrinder http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091321 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091321 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:47:39 -0800 Comment by Stacy in Austin My results from work:
Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 38%
Likelihood of you being MALE is 62%

...but I'm female. Maybe it'll be different from home. It was surprising to learn that icanhascheezburger has a higher ratio of men visiting it than google.

]]> Stacy in Austin http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091323 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091323 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:52:06 -0800 Comment by Tiram Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 54%
Likelihood of you being MALE is 46%

Too close to call? (Mind, I was female the last time I looked.)

Site Male-Female Ratio
facebook.com 0.83
flickr.com 1.15
cafepress.com 0.8
icanhascheezburger.com 1.04
gutenberg.org 1.06

]]> Tiram http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091331 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091331 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:54:58 -0800 Comment by PopTart I'm a girl. I'm a hetero girl. I'm totally a girlie girl and I'll kick you in the ass with my 5 inch stilettos if you disagree. And yet:

Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 27%
Likelihood of you being MALE is 73%

Look, just because I go to Game FAQs and Urban Dictionary and the fucking Stranger doesn't mean I'm a guy. It means I cheat at video games and don't understand half the slang I read on Slog, which I have a compulsive need to read and post to. Stupid? Yes. A male? NO!

]]> PopTart http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091333 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091333 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:56:58 -0800 Comment by Abby UPS skews male, but USPS skews female. That's amuses me.

]]> Abby http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091343 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091343 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:03:47 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle Good thing I cleared my browser history just now.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091465 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091465 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:10:58 -0800 Comment by The General I feel like I should win something for this...

Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 100%
Likelihood of you being MALE is 0%

]]> The General http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091493 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091493 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:22:15 -0800 Comment by infrequent i thought i was a female. too much shoe browsing i guess.

]]> infrequent http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091611 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091611 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:49:22 -0800 Comment by infrequent should be "it thought i ..." oops. well, that explains part of the problem. my typos...

]]> infrequent http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091628 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091628 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:58:09 -0800 Comment by Sarah But it doesn't calculate how much total time you spend on the sites....I spend an inordinate amount of time at Facebook (0.83) but only long enough on the Michael's website (0.47) to find out when they close. Also, I have wasted most of the last two days at Flickr (1.15) but that doesn't seem to skew my results at all.

Whatever. This at least makes more sense than that one site that could guess whether you were male or female based on your blog entries.

]]> Sarah http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091795 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1091795 Teh Internets Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:16:25 -0800 Comment by Patrick I'm 53% female? I guess it missed all that gay porn in my browser history.

]]> Patrick http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1092103 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_internet_predicts_your_gender#c1092103 Teh Internets Sat, 02 Aug 2008 23:16:30 -0800