4 ms·

> Some local managers who were men went so far as to adopt a female persona for texting drivers, having found that the uptake was higher when they did. [...] Ub

> Some local managers who were men went so far as to adopt a female persona for texting drivers, having found that the uptake was higher when they did. [...] Uber acknowledged that it had experimented with female personas to increase engagement with drivers. Classic. Men are predictable, and Uber is predictably amoral.

WalterBright 10y ago
I've always wanted a nag for my navigator turn directions: "Ya shoulda tarned bak dare, ya fakkin twit! Now you're making me recalculate! Whazza matta wit ya?"
colmvp 10y ago
Many, many years ago, when I was thinking of moving, I was looking for salary ranges for a particular American city. It was pre-Glassdoor so there wasn't a website that aggregated that information. I decided to go the HackerNews of that particular industry, except instead of using my own account, I decided to make a fake one with an avatar of an attractive but non-famous female. Basically it looked like it was a genuine personal photograph rather than a professionally shot photo you would've found in a magazine. I basically posted one post, introducing myself and asked if anyone had an idea of salary ranges for that city given a specific job position. Holy. Crap. The number of replies I got was unbelievable. I think on average threads on that news site had double digit responses but this one had over 100. I even had people private message me to say they wanted to interview me despite not including any links to a personal website or resume.
- YCode 10y ago
  When I sign up for services where the goal is to get tech support (i.e. StackExchange, Discord, Slack) I use a female persona. I've had to explain to a few people (including my wife) that it's not a gender confusion thing at all, it's purely for the perks. It's ridiculous how far people will go to help a "woman" online.
  - chipperyman573 10y ago
    Does this actually work on SO? You don't see the avatar until after you read both the title AND the problem (since it's at the bottom of the page instead of alongside it). Plus, the avatar is very tiny. I feel like most people would either have a solution by the time they finish reading or they won't, but a female picture wouldn't change that. (Serious question by the way, this is an interesting idea)
    - stouset 10y ago
      They might have an answer to the question in their heads, but whether or not they choose to type it up and submit is a different question.
    - YCode 10y ago
      While I haven't done any formal research on the topic anecdotally it totally works on SO and abroad. People seem to start from a more eager position of "How can I help this person?" rather than the more typical "Does this person deserve help?" attitude support channels tend to have. The nature of the discussion is more clarifying than patronizing. I suspect the idea of a female disarms the typical competitive "Which of us knows more?" attitude discussions tend to take in IT circles and without that in the way things are more productive for both parties.
- taneq 10y ago
  But this can't be true, everyone knows STEM fields and IT in particular discriminate against women. >.>
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
taneq 10y ago
There's a reason both Siri and Cortana are female.
- csomar 10y ago
  By default. But you can change the voice setting. Maybe women will prefer to do that.
  - Crespyl 10y ago
    Don't have the source link on me, but apparently the default is a male voice in Saudi Arabia and some other countries.
bkohlmann 10y ago
The voice for warnings and cautions in fighter jets is a woman. It makes us pay attention better. Source: 1000+ flights hearing her voice...
- duncan_bayne 10y ago
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitching_Betty https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitching_Betty
lathiat 10y ago
I have a customer who does exactly this. They operate a simple online printing business printing custom & library artwork. He told me apparently he gets a lot more replies and conversions using a female persona for the support address - double interesting given that in many places you can place an order without contacting them.
Anderkent 10y ago
Why is that amoral?

WalterBright 10y ago

I've always wanted a nag for my navigator turn directions: "Ya shoulda tarned bak dare, ya fakkin twit! Now you're making me recalculate! Whazza matta wit ya?"

colmvp 10y ago

Many, many years ago, when I was thinking of moving, I was looking for salary ranges for a particular American city. It was pre-Glassdoor so there wasn't a website that aggregated that information. I decided to go the HackerNews of that particular industry, except instead of using my own account, I decided to make a fake one with an avatar of an attractive but non-famous female. Basically it looked like it was a genuine personal photograph rather than a professionally shot photo you would've found in a magazine. I basically posted one post, introducing myself and asked if anyone had an idea of salary ranges for that city given a specific job position. Holy. Crap. The number of replies I got was unbelievable. I think on average threads on that news site had double digit responses but this one had over 100. I even had people private message me to say they wanted to interview me despite not including any links to a personal website or resume.

YCode 10y ago
When I sign up for services where the goal is to get tech support (i.e. StackExchange, Discord, Slack) I use a female persona. I've had to explain to a few people (including my wife) that it's not a gender confusion thing at all, it's purely for the perks. It's ridiculous how far people will go to help a "woman" online.
- chipperyman573 10y ago
  Does this actually work on SO? You don't see the avatar until after you read both the title AND the problem (since it's at the bottom of the page instead of alongside it). Plus, the avatar is very tiny. I feel like most people would either have a solution by the time they finish reading or they won't, but a female picture wouldn't change that. (Serious question by the way, this is an interesting idea)
  - stouset 10y ago
    They might have an answer to the question in their heads, but whether or not they choose to type it up and submit is a different question.
  - YCode 10y ago
    While I haven't done any formal research on the topic anecdotally it totally works on SO and abroad. People seem to start from a more eager position of "How can I help this person?" rather than the more typical "Does this person deserve help?" attitude support channels tend to have. The nature of the discussion is more clarifying than patronizing. I suspect the idea of a female disarms the typical competitive "Which of us knows more?" attitude discussions tend to take in IT circles and without that in the way things are more productive for both parties.
taneq 10y ago
But this can't be true, everyone knows STEM fields and IT in particular discriminate against women. >.>

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

taneq 10y ago

There's a reason both Siri and Cortana are female.

csomar 10y ago
By default. But you can change the voice setting. Maybe women will prefer to do that.
- Crespyl 10y ago
  Don't have the source link on me, but apparently the default is a male voice in Saudi Arabia and some other countries.

bkohlmann 10y ago

The voice for warnings and cautions in fighter jets is a woman. It makes us pay attention better. Source: 1000+ flights hearing her voice...

duncan_bayne 10y ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitching_Betty https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitching_Betty

lathiat 10y ago

I have a customer who does exactly this. They operate a simple online printing business printing custom & library artwork. He told me apparently he gets a lot more replies and conversions using a female persona for the support address - double interesting given that in many places you can place an order without contacting them.

Anderkent 10y ago

Why is that amoral?