Monday, January 26, 2015

Who is Getting Some? You Can Google It

Do you have questions about sex? Of course. And do you wonder if your questions are normal? Or at least familiar? It's very likely they are.

In yesterday's New York Times I read Seth Stephens-Davidowitz--he's an economist--article analyzing "big data" on sex, desire and our insecurities. His work is fascinating--how he does it and what he finds. Sex and relationships are our favorite topic here on Love in the Time of Cancer--so how cool is this to compare against the norms.

Stephens-Davidowitz uses Google searches as a baseline for his work. That makes sense since so many of us turn first to Google for everything from "how to cook an artichoke" to "how to have more orgasms." And, as Stephens-Davidowitz points out, we are more likely to take our sex questions to Google than to a close friend. So Google knows.

Google knows who's getting how much, how often, and who is happy or unhappy with what they are getting. And Google is a record of our insecurities: men and pens size; women and butt shape. Surprise: Women now want bigger, rounder butts rather than skinny Twiggy butts. There's a demographic marker!

So here's the link to the full New York Times article. Enjoy this, and yes, compare but don't stare:

http://nyti.ms/1yQlvWz

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