Multiple biases are determining who gets in the game!
In today's digital age, online dating has become a prevalent way for individuals to seek connections. But for Black women, this landscape can often be arduous to navigate. A 2019 study by the dating app Tinder revealed that Black women were 34% less likely to get messages than white women. And OkCupid's internal data from 2017 highlighted that Black women were 1.5 times less likely to receive messages from men than women of all other races
Research has shown that this is not simply due to stereotyped beliefs about Black women. A significant influence are the algorithms determinations of who is presented and matched; they have been found to negatively bias app connection patterns for Black women. Further, cultural stereotypes of Black womanhood inform the ways in which individuals engage Black women's profiles. As a result, Black women are less likely to be matched or receive potential partner responses in online dating environments.
To understand the depths of what is occuring, this episode features a discussion with Dr. Apryl Williams, an Assistant Professor of Communication, Media, and Digital Studies at the University of Michigan. She is also a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, a former Senior Fellow in Trustworthy AI at Mozilla, as well as an affiliated researcher at NYU's Center for Critical Race & Digital Studies. She is the author of Not My Type: Automating Sexual Racism in Online Dating. As a multidisciplinary scholar, Williams studies experiences of gender and race at the intersection of digital spaces and algorithmic technocultures. Her research has also been featured in Time Magazine, the New York Times, Wired, and other popular press outlets.
To learn more about Dr. Williams, click here.
Works by Dr. Williams:
Season 1, Episode 18
Running Time: 30 minutes
