Know how I know you’re gay? From looking at who your Facebook friends are. That’s the message of this Boston Globe article by Carolyn Y. Johnson, which details the research of two MIT students who made a surprising discovery:
Using data from the social network Facebook, they made a striking discovery: just by looking at a person’s online friends, they could predict whether the person was gay. They did this with a software program that looked at the gender and sexuality of a person’s friends and, using statistical analysis, made a prediction. The two students had no way of checking all of their predictions, but based on their own knowledge outside the Facebook world, their computer program appeared quite accurate for men, they said. People may be effectively “outing” themselves just by the virtual company they keep.
The discovery raises all sorts of questions about online privacy. Later in the article, Johnson discusses researchers here at College Park who were able to discover Flickr users’ hometowns and Facebookers’ gender.
Meanwhile, as The (Baltimore) Sun points out, Gov. Martin O’Malley apparently faces a relatively easy road to re-election. His approval rating is at 48 percent, high for a governor during a recession. The new poll also shows him beating former Gov. Robert Ehrlich and former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele in hypothetical match-ups.
Quick Hits
- Prince George’s County is potentially going to lay off 125 employees, the Post says.
- For the first time in decades, the United States’ foreign-born population dropped last year, according to USA Today.
- Want to ride Michael Jackson’s Ferris wheel? You can, if you’re in the midwest.
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