SPEND THE NIGHT WITH. WE TAKE A CLOSER LOOK IF THESE
APPS BROADEN US OR CREATE BIAS?
>> Reporter: DATING APPSES GIVE
YOU A LOT MORE CONTROL OVER WHO
YOU WANT TO SEE, HOW YOU WANT TO
SEE THEM AND HOW TO CUT THINGS
OFF IF THEY’RE NOT GOING WELL.
ESPECIALLY FOR WOMEN.
>> YOU START TO FEEL LIKE YOU’RE
IN THIS DEFENSIVE POSTURE ALL
THE TIME OF, LIKE, I’M HERE BUT
I APPRECIATE THE OFFER BUT I
DON’T WANT A DRINK FROM YOU.
>> Reporter: AARON AND SARA ARE
ACTORS AND PRODUCERS AND WORKING
BEHIND THE CREATIVE SCENE OF
BUMBLE.
BUMBLE. >> I FELT LIKE I WAS GOING LIKE
THIS.
THIS. I THINK WHEN YOU HAVE IT ON YOUR
PHONE, YOU HAVE CONTROL OF THE
CONVERSATION AND IT’S NOT SCARY
TO SAY TO SOMEONE, YOU KNOW
WHAT, YOU CLOSE IT OUT.
>> I THINK WOMEN ARE BUSIER AND
THERE ISN’T AS MUCH TIME TO GO
OUT AND FIND PEOPLE.
>> Reporter: THIS ISN’T
SOMETHING WE’RE JUST SEEING IN
THE U.S.
THE U.S. DATING APPS LIKE BUMBLE GIVE
WOMEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE
THE FIRST MOVE, TOO.
>> I FEEL LIKE WOMEN IN INDIA
ARE AT A PRECIPICE RIGHTS NOW
WHERE THEY WANT TO TAKE THE
FUTURE IN THEIR OWN HANDS.
BUMBLE IS NOT JUST A DATING
SITE.
SITE. ET CETERA A SOCIAL NETWORK.
I LOVE THE ACCESSIBILITY AND
POWER IT GAVE WOMEN IN INDIA.
>> Reporter: WHILE USERS GAIN
CONTROL IN SOME WAYS, THESE APPS
MAY BE LEAVING OTHERS BEHIND.
IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I’VE
BEEN IN THE DATING GAME MYSELF
BUT I SEE MY FRIENDS SWIPING
AWAY AND BEGAN WONDERING, HOW IS
THE DESIGN OF THESE APPS
IMPACTING OUR PREFERENCES WHEN
IT COMES TO OUR LOVE LIFE?
>> THIS IS A GAME CALLED MONSTER
MATCH.
MATCH. IT’S DESIGNED TO HELP US BETTER
UNDERSTAND DATING APPS AND THE
BIASES THAT CAN EXIST WITHIN
THEM.
THEM. I’M GOING TO PLAY IT.
>> Reporter: THIS ONE ACTUALLY
MIMICS HOW REAL DATING APPS WORK
BUT USES MONSTERS INSTEAD OF
REAL PEOPLE.
REAL PEOPLE. >> I’VE GOT MY AVE TAR.
TO GET TO KNOW SOMEONE LIKE ME
YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ALL FIVE
OF MY MOURTS.
TALKING ABOUT MY LIKES, WARN
FIRE IN THE DUNGEON.
NOW I’LL START MATCHING.
THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES TO HOW
YOU SWIPE.
YOU SWIPE. WE’LL TELL YOU AS YOU GO ALONG.
>> WE HAVE RARY, LEAST LIKELY TO
SPEND THE NIGHT, LEAST LIKELY TO
GET ALONG WITH YOUR KIDS.
PASS.
PASS. >> Reporter: DESIGNERS SAY THEY
CREATED IT TO ILLUSTRATE HOW THE
APPS WORK AND HOW THE ALGORITHMS
CAN EXACERBATE BIASES.
>> WE WANT TO SHOW THIS IS A
PROBLEM WITH THE ALGORITHM.
I DON’T WANT TO BLAME THE USER.
CAN ONE HIGHLIGHT THE BIAS THAT
GOES ON WITH DATING.
>> Reporter: JESSEIE PUBLISHED
RESEARCH, EXAMINEING 25 TOP APPS
>> THE STATISTICS ARE KIND OF
CRAZY.
CRAZY. ABOUT A THIRD OF MARRIAGES ARE
NOW INITIATED THROUGH DATING
APPS.
APPS. AS RECENTLY AS A FEW YEARS AGO,
60% OF QUEER CONNECTIONS WERE
INITIATED THROUGH DATING APPS.
THIS IS A HUGE PART OF OUR LIFE
THAT ISN’T GOING TO GO AWAY ANY
TIME SOON.
TIME SOON. >> IT’S IMPORTANT WHEN YOU THINK
ABOUT INTIMACY AND
RELATIONSHIPS.
RELATIONSHIPS. >> Reporter: WHAT RESPONSIBILITY
DO DATING APPS HAVE TO CREATE AN
EQUITABLE ENVIRONMENT.
EQUITABLE ENVIRONMENT. I THINK THE BIGGEST THING, I
WOULD SAY THIS IS NOT JUST FOR
DATING APPS BUT FOR ANY KIND OF
APP OR SITE THAT ALLOWS PEOPLE
TO INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER IS
TO REALIZE THE DESIGN HAS POWER.
WHEN YOU’RE PUTTING IN A SORTING
AND FILTERING FEATURE, WHAT
YOU’RE SAYING IS IT’S OKAY TO
SORT AND FILTER PEOPLE BY RACE.
WHEN YOU USE AN ALGORITHM THAT
USES DATA FROM THE PAST, YOU’RE
SAYING PAST PREFERENCES MUST
DEFINE FUTURE PREFERENCES.
>> Reporter: MY TIME ON MONSTER
MATCH SHOWED ME WHAT JESSIE WAS
TALKING ABOUT IN REAL TIME.
DATING APP FIRST SWIPE TO FIGURE
YOU OUT.
YOU OUT. THIS IS CALLED THE ALGORITHM.
YOU USE ONE FROM REAL DATING
APPS IN THIS GAME.
>> I MATCHED WITH A SPIDER ON
MONSTER MATCH AND SHE EXPLICITLY
ASKED ME, ARE YOU COOL WITH
SPIDERS?
SPIDERS? LIKE, DO YOU HAVE A BIG FEAR OF
SPIDERS?
SPIDERS? AND IT JUST REMINDS YOU OF -- IS
SOMEONE GOING TO ACCEPT ME FOR
WHO I AM EVEN THOUGH I MIGHT BE
A DIFFERENT RACE THAN THEM.
>> TALKING ABOUT SOME OF THE
SPECIFIC BIASES YOU WERE TRYING
TO ILLUSTRATE THROUGH THE GAME.
>> IN REALITY I THINK THE WAY
THE SOFTWARE IS WRITTEN IS
BIASED AGAINST PEOPLE.
YOU’RE PUT INTO A VERY NARROW
RANGE OF PEOPLE.
>> Reporter: OTHER RESEARCH
SUGGESTS DATING APPS ARE
INCREASING INTERRACIAL DATING BY
GIVING YOU EXPOSURE TO GROUPS
YOU MIGHT NOT OTHERWISE SEE.
THEY SHOW WHAT HAPSZ WHEN MORE
LINKS ARE ADDED AT RANDOM.
THE LEVEL OF INTERRACIAL
MARRIAGE INCREASED
MARRIAGE INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY, PLUS THOSE
MARRIAGES WERE STRONGER.
THE REAL-TIME DATA SEEMS TO
SUPPORT THIS DATA.
INTERRACIAL MARRIAGES BEGAN TO
RISE AS DID THE POPULARITY OF
ONLINE DATING.
ONLINE DATING. APPS LIKE BUMBLE SEEM TO BE
KEENLY AWARE OF ALL THIS.
A REPRESENTATIVE FROM BUMBLE
SAID THE APP DOES NOT ASK USERS
TO SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR
RACE OR ETHNICITY.
THEY ALSO CLAIM THEIR ALGORITHM
DOESN’T CONSIDER THESE
ATTRIBUTES WHEN PRESENTING
POTENTIAL MATCHES.
POTENTIAL MATCHES. THEY ALSO SAY INCLUSION AND
DIVERSITY, QUOTE, INFORM THE WAY
WE BUILD OUR USER BASE, OUR TEAM
AND OUR GROWTH STRATEGY.
BUT IS THERE STILL ROOM FOR
IMPROVEMENT ACROSS THE BOARD?
>> JUST LOOKING AT THE WAYS ALL
THESE TINY FEATURES OF A SITE OR
APP MIGHT CAUSE HARM TO SOME
PEOPLE, EVEN IF THEY DO BENEFIT
A MAJORITY, IS A BIG
RECOMMENDATION.
RECOMMENDATION. IS IT REALISTIC FOR SORTING AND
FILTERING FEATURES TO GO AWAY?
>> IT MIGHT BE.
THIS IS COMING UP A LOT WITH
FACIAL RECOGNITION.
FACIAL RECOGNITION. WHEN IS IT OKAY TO CATEGORIZE
PEOPLE AT ALL?
WHEN DO YOU WANT TO SAY, THIS IS
SOMEONE ALLOWED IN THE SPACE AND
THIS IS SOMEONE WHO ISN’T?
SO, ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS
THAT WE HAVE IS TO THINK ABOUT
CATEGORYIZEING PEOPLE BASED ON
THINGS OTHER THAN RACE, OTHER
THAN GENDER, OTHER THAN
DISABILITY.
DISABILITY. A LOT OF DATING APPS DO THIS BY
CATEGORYIZEING PEOPLE BY WHAT TY
OF MUSIC, WHAT TIME DO YOU GO TO