Dataclysm

Through the analysis of data from a dating site, a bold and irreverent investigation into human behavior. With our lives increasingly exposed online, our data can be used for all sorts of purposes: spying on us, hiring us, firing us, and, most importantly, selling us things we don't really need. In Dataclisma, however, Christian Rudder uses all this data to show us who we really are online—when we think no one is looking. Bold, original, and irreverent, Rudder takes on the challenge of maintaining public privacy while also explaining, based on data analysis, the differences in men's and women's online behavior; how the Facebook "like" button can predict, with surprising accuracy, a person's sexual orientation; how beautiful women are more likely to do well in job interviews; how Twitter can spark a new dynamic of mass hatred; and much more. The author shows how the internet can be a vibrant, brutal, loving, indulgent, deceptive, sensual, and furious place. After all, it reflects our society and is made up of human beings. From urban to rural areas, from rich to poor, from Black to Asian, from white to Latino, of all ages, everyone is connected. And never in human history have their lives and relationships been so tracked and transformed into data.