The truth about online dating: rose jail, segregation, and classist, racist algorithms
If you’ve ever experienced dating drama on ‘the apps’, if you’ve wondered why you only ever get shown the same kind of person as a potential match, if you’ve thought about why, when you ‘rate’ yourself, you rarely seem to get presented with anyone you find attractive - you’ll want to get into last week’s episode of Mixed Up!
In it - we spoke to Apryl Williams - assistant professor of communication and digital studies at the University of Michigan and author of ‘Not My Type: Automating Sexual Racism in Online Dating’ and wow, was it an education (likely more so for me than Nicole), as I’ve only ever witnessed dating apps in action vicariously, over the shoulder of a friend as they run the gauntlet of horrors that previously seemed inevitable. But that was when I knew very little about what was actually going on behind the algorithm. Now it’s obvious that not only is running a gauntlet of horrors inevitable, but it’s also - automated.
Scary, I hear you utter. And you’d be right.
Apryl broke down her research on the apps and how the algorithms are set up to rate us on similarity - essentially as she puts it - ‘automating eugenics’.
For more on how the apps are rating us on whether we are a 10 or a 2 based on our weight, race and economic status, and then preventing us from being able to talk to anyone they don’t deem ‘within our league’, make sure you tune into this episode.
You can now watch the video on YouTube - here if you’d like to see our shocked faces!
Or on audio here as always if that’s your jam.
Later this week we will be releasing a special collab episode with Texture Talks podcast and Paige Lewin discussing texturism and whether we should retire the hair texture chart. Subscribe so as not to miss it.
Come Dine With Us
Image: _@lotsofbutter instagram
Finally - we’d love to meet you in person which is why we’ve organised a three course supper club cheffed up by the incredible Ana Da Costa who will be serving Macanese cuisine (Portuguese/Chinese fusion) plus a live recording of the podcast with academic and writer Anna Sulan. We still have a few tickets for this left, so if you’d like to join us you can pick one up here. We hope to see you there next week on the 13th May!
Emma x
Ps . As always if you do enjoy the content in the podcast - you’ll find more of the same in our book - The Half Of It. We are self funded and work hard to bring you this content. You can support the continuation of the pod by getting yourself a copy here!
Emma Slade Edmondson and Nicole Ocran created the award-winning Mixed Up podcast in 2020 to discuss race and identity through the lens of the mixed-race perspective.
They have interviewed the likes of Afua Hirsch, Ben Bailey Smith, Big Zuu, Emma Dabiri, Jassa Ahluwalia, Jordan Stephens, Kit de Waal and Travis Alabanza over the last four seasons.
Emma Slade Edmondson is a London and Paris based creative director, writer and speaker specialising in social change and sustainability for over a decade, working to elevate brands, initiatives and organisations that have a desire to do social and environmental good.
Nicole Ocran is an American writer, journalist and fashion influencer who has been sharing her personal style and London life online for the past 13 years. She’s the co-founder of The Creator Union, a union campaigning for fair pay for digital creatives and influencers.