MIT Students Invent Facebook Gaydar
September 23, 2009
Students at MIT have written a program that identifies gay men through a simple analysis of their Facebook profiles. The program, which has been lovingly dubbed the Gaydar Project, accurately verifies the sexual orientation of people who use the social networking service by looking at the “interested in” field of their friends, and weighing the numbers accordingly. The program’s interpretation was correct for all students independently known to be gay, even when their profiles didn’t mention it explicitly.
The program was written as part of a computer ethics course, and will be automatically be sent to any girls who just have to know if that cute guy in the back of their Psychology class is worth pursuing.
- Facebook Friend List Can Indicate Your Sexual Preference [Digital Journal]
- Project ‘Gaydar’ [Boston Globe]
