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Everybody lies: how Google search reveals our darkest secrets

theguardian.com

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Re: Everybody lies: how Google search reveals our darkest secrets

#11

Post by mc32 »

rocqua wrote: post #7
cko wrote: post #2

I'm not sure that counting gay porn searches (example they gave in the article) is a reliable indicator of whether the seeker is gay. This may be TMI for HN but once in a while I (a straight male with zero attraction to men ever) have searched for and "enjoyed" gay porn. I was curious about this phenomenon and found many forum posts where straight guys say they've watched gay porn.

Might that mean that you are bi? I mean, if you like watching it you might enjoy doing it. If your first response to that suggestion was visceral, maybe you actually have some aversion to the idea that you are. It makes sense, the world is easier for straight people, but it might bear closer examination.

It probably has little bearing. Gay women watch straight porn, and male gay porn. It doesn't mean they are secretly straight and just don't know it.

Likewise watching natgeo animals mating doesn't make someone a zoophiliac.

Re: Everybody lies: how Google search reveals our darkest secrets

#12

Post by stinos »

rocqua wrote: post #7
cko wrote: post #2

I'm not sure that counting gay porn searches (example they gave in the article) is a reliable indicator of whether the seeker is gay. This may be TMI for HN but once in a while I (a straight male with zero attraction to men ever) have searched for and "enjoyed" gay porn. I was curious about this phenomenon and found many forum posts where straight guys say they've watched gay porn.

Might that mean that you are bi? I mean, if you like watching it you might enjoy doing it. If your first response to that suggestion was visceral, maybe you actually have some aversion to the idea that you are. It makes sense, the world is easier for straight people, but it might bear closer examination.

Could be, but that's just one option. Another one being: purely curiousity. Engineering (and other) minds often think in ways like "What does it look like? How does it work practically?" etc, and that goes for any subject, so if that happens to be gay sex then gay porn would surely be a good starting point (while keeping in mind that the depicted stuff might not exactly represent reality, like a ton of porn out there).

Re: Everybody lies: how Google search reveals our darkest secrets

#13

Post by dehue »

cko wrote: post #2

I'm not sure that counting gay porn searches (example they gave in the article) is a reliable indicator of whether the seeker is gay. This may be TMI for HN but once in a while I (a straight male with zero attraction to men ever) have searched for and "enjoyed" gay porn. I was curious about this phenomenon and found many forum posts where straight guys say they've watched gay porn.

I agree, I don't believe that someones search habits are indicative of their sexuality. Just because a woman watches lesbian videos or a man views gay porn does not mean that they are gay. Maybe they could be slightly bi-curious but still have no interest in a relationship with the same sex. And how do they even know that the searcher is a man? Lots of straight women watch gay porn and that obviously does not make them gay.

Re: Everybody lies: how Google search reveals our darkest secrets

#14

Post by cko »

rocqua wrote: post #7
cko wrote: post #2

I'm not sure that counting gay porn searches (example they gave in the article) is a reliable indicator of whether the seeker is gay. This may be TMI for HN but once in a while I (a straight male with zero attraction to men ever) have searched for and "enjoyed" gay porn. I was curious about this phenomenon and found many forum posts where straight guys say they've watched gay porn.

Might that mean that you are bi? I mean, if you like watching it you might enjoy doing it. If your first response to that suggestion was visceral, maybe you actually have some aversion to the idea that you are. It makes sense, the world is easier for straight people, but it might bear closer examination.

I thought about that possibility, but I never check out men and have no interest in them.

A really good female friend of mine tells me she only watches lesbian porn. She's straight as far as I know.

Re: Everybody lies: how Google search reveals our darkest secrets

#15

Post by throwaway465486 »

rocqua wrote: post #7
cko wrote: post #2

I'm not sure that counting gay porn searches (example they gave in the article) is a reliable indicator of whether the seeker is gay. This may be TMI for HN but once in a while I (a straight male with zero attraction to men ever) have searched for and "enjoyed" gay porn. I was curious about this phenomenon and found many forum posts where straight guys say they've watched gay porn.

Might that mean that you are bi? I mean, if you like watching it you might enjoy doing it. If your first response to that suggestion was visceral, maybe you actually have some aversion to the idea that you are. It makes sense, the world is easier for straight people, but it might bear closer examination.

I occasionally enjoy gay porn as well and even had a "gay experience" when I was a teenager (I wouldn't say it wasn't pleasurable, but it wasn't amazing either).

That being said, I am definitely not gay and don't have any further desire to have sex with other men; what can I say other than human sexuality is complicated?

Re: Everybody lies: how Google search reveals our darkest secrets

#16

Post by amelius »

dehue wrote: post #13
cko wrote: post #2

I'm not sure that counting gay porn searches (example they gave in the article) is a reliable indicator of whether the seeker is gay. This may be TMI for HN but once in a while I (a straight male with zero attraction to men ever) have searched for and "enjoyed" gay porn. I was curious about this phenomenon and found many forum posts where straight guys say they've watched gay porn.

I agree, I don't believe that someones search habits are indicative of their sexuality. Just because a woman watches lesbian videos or a man views gay porn does not mean that they are gay. Maybe they could be slightly bi-curious but still have no interest in a relationship with the same sex. And how do they even know that the searcher is a man? Lots of straight women watch gay porn and that obviously does not make th…

Or they could look something up to ridicule it (for example).

Re: Everybody lies: how Google search reveals our darkest secrets

#17

Post by amelius »

cko wrote: post #2

I'm not sure that counting gay porn searches (example they gave in the article) is a reliable indicator of whether the seeker is gay. This may be TMI for HN but once in a while I (a straight male with zero attraction to men ever) have searched for and "enjoyed" gay porn. I was curious about this phenomenon and found many forum posts where straight guys say they've watched gay porn.

What scares me is that it would be possible for a third party to identify people who perform searches for gay porn (in this example).

This could be done by setting up an ad campaign directed at gay people, but selling something innocent. Only people who searched for gay porn will see the ad, and so the third party can determine that those buyers have looked for gay porn.

Re: Everybody lies: how Google search reveals our darkest secrets

#18

Post by Ded7xSEoPKYNsDd »

pmarreck wrote: post #8
rasmi wrote: post #3

I purchased this book on sale at the Kindle store to get a detailed sense of what his methodology was, and it seems he just uses Google Trends to compare search volumes across locations combined with Google AdWords to give the data a numerical scale and break down the data demographically. It seems statistically dubious at best, especially the part where he makes assumptions based on search autocomplete results (whic…

> assumptions based on search autocomplete results (which vary based on location, IP address, browser, OS, and other factors). I imagine you could just do the same searches in an Incognito browser window and get results not tailored to you, nor your location, IP, etc. (Or, I would be rather surprised if google searches were STILL tailored to some determinable attribute of you in an incognito browser window.) I also i…

Incognito mode doesn't do anything to hide your location or IP (basically the same thing on non-mobile). It's really just meant as a porn mode: nothing you do is saved to disk.

Re: Everybody lies: how Google search reveals our darkest secrets

#19

Post by tyrw »

"When we lecture angry people, the search data implies that their fury can grow. But subtly provoking people’s curiosity, giving new information, and offering new images of the group that is stoking their rage may turn their thoughts in different, more positive directions."

This was the most interesting takeaway for me. It's one thing to know that negative behavior is underreported on surveys, but much more valuable to draw potential conclusions about how the situation might be improved.

Re: Everybody lies: how Google search reveals our darkest secrets

#20

Post by leesalminen »

pmarreck wrote: post #9
cko wrote: post #2

I'm not sure that counting gay porn searches (example they gave in the article) is a reliable indicator of whether the seeker is gay. This may be TMI for HN but once in a while I (a straight male with zero attraction to men ever) have searched for and "enjoyed" gay porn. I was curious about this phenomenon and found many forum posts where straight guys say they've watched gay porn.

> This may be TMI for HN but once in a while I (a straight male with zero attraction to men ever) have searched for and "enjoyed" gay porn. And yet I have never. Does this mean I am (on some ruler) "straighter" than you? (Not that I care, or think this matters.) (I once discovered gay male porn on the parents' computer of a woman I once dated, while trying to fix it. Awkward...)

I once ran into "adult selfies" of a gay man in his 40s when fixing his computer. I was 14.
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