Not OKCupid!

First it was Facebook, now it’s OKCupid toying with its users who have no idea that they actually consented to being toyed with when they signed up with the service.  Like Facebook, they employ a one-two punch — they use a contract to legitimize their actions and then social shaming to normalize their conduct as a business practice.  The rhetoric of contract and consent staves off irate users and deflects blame away from the company and onto the user (you agreed to let them use you in research, you fool!  It’s your fault – if you had read the privacy policy, you would have known).  Here, OkCupid brazenly admits to their dubious tactics with a “we’ve-got-nothing-to-hide” attitude and then goes a step further by acting like there’s something wrong with you if you have a problem with it.  In a post on the company’s blog proudly proclaiming:  “We Experiment on Human Beings!“, OkCupid’s president writes that “if you use the Internet, you’re the subject of hundreds of experiments at any given time, on every site. That’s how websites work.”  

Translation:  That’s just how it is.  Get over it.  It’s your fault for being so naive – OKStupid? 

Not OkCupid.