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This is not as effective as you might think. We reveal so much more about ourselves than we could ever imagine. If you use, or used Reddit, Snoopsnoo [1] is a

This is not as effective as you might think. We reveal so much more about ourselves than we could ever imagine. If you use, or used Reddit, Snoopsnoo [1] is a site that uses incredibly primitive language parsing to build a profile on users based on what they've voluntarily submitted. And again I have to emphasize that is using very primitive parsing. It's disconcerting how much we reveal when an algorithm is able to rapidly and effectively piece it together. Now when enter the government that data can be cross matched against other meta-data to nail down your identity to a very small segment, if not outright match it. And then we get into things like language analysis. I make some token effort to anonymity, but my wife has mentioned she often knows its me posting before seeing the username. And I can do the same for other people I know well. No idea what we're picking up on, but it's a task that machine learning would be phenomenally well suited to do - and do better than we do. And then there are things like more explicit dialect issues. This [2] is a quiz based on American dialects. Again it is phenomenal how much your vocabulary, which undoubtedly you view as 'proper', actually reveals your location. Our very language is not only a finger print but also a geo-tracker. [1] - https://www.snoopsnoo.com/ https://www.snoopsnoo.com/ [2] - http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/...

keont 9y ago
That link is frightening. Even though I think about this often, watching it in action is scary. Is there any similar tool for twitter?
bobbinsbob 9y ago
I'm British and took that survey for shits and giggles, I like a survey. Anyway I'm not that impressed it had me down as either coming from Providence (because I pronounce mary, marry and merry different), or Santa Rosa or San Jose (because I'd never heard of a drive through liquor store which actually seems a mental idea, from a UK perspective). I know it's not supposed to work on me but there's a massive distance between the first and last two places based solely on one data point. Makes me wonder how this would fare in a smaller country like the England or Scotland, etc.
Jill_the_Pill 9y ago
That snoopsnoo is fascinating. I don't use reddit, so I couldn't look up myself, but viewing the random profiles was so interesting. You could get a real sense of the people -- a college student with an eating disorder who likes a lot of makeup products, an athletic married woman who works lifting heavy things in a warehouse and makes quilts, a sweet loner guy with a deep attachment to France. It would be a treasure trove for a fiction writer in need of characters.
CM30 9y ago
Took the survey despite being British, found it had me down as being most similar to New Yorkers. As someone who doesn't know much about American dialogue, do people over there really use similar wording? Or is the quiz just coming up with random answers because it has no clue what to suggest?

keont 9y ago

That link is frightening. Even though I think about this often, watching it in action is scary. Is there any similar tool for twitter?

bobbinsbob 9y ago

I'm British and took that survey for shits and giggles, I like a survey. Anyway I'm not that impressed it had me down as either coming from Providence (because I pronounce mary, marry and merry different), or Santa Rosa or San Jose (because I'd never heard of a drive through liquor store which actually seems a mental idea, from a UK perspective). I know it's not supposed to work on me but there's a massive distance between the first and last two places based solely on one data point. Makes me wonder how this would fare in a smaller country like the England or Scotland, etc.

Jill_the_Pill 9y ago

That snoopsnoo is fascinating. I don't use reddit, so I couldn't look up myself, but viewing the random profiles was so interesting. You could get a real sense of the people -- a college student with an eating disorder who likes a lot of makeup products, an athletic married woman who works lifting heavy things in a warehouse and makes quilts, a sweet loner guy with a deep attachment to France. It would be a treasure trove for a fiction writer in need of characters.

CM30 9y ago

Took the survey despite being British, found it had me down as being most similar to New Yorkers. As someone who doesn't know much about American dialogue, do people over there really use similar wording? Or is the quiz just coming up with random answers because it has no clue what to suggest?