“Different strokes by different folks” attributed to Mohamed Ali and made popular by Sly and the Family Stone, “Everyday People”, is an exciting new website. A social experiment to find out just how different people are. The backbone is a series of self reported questionnaires on all possible subjects. All answers are voluntary and all people are of course allowed to lie. Data collection is for the purpose of statistics but also to build up a digital DNA of each user. A simple example is “choose colors of the rainbow in order of preference”. Personal data such as height, weight, salary, location, health, history etc. you name it can all be given voluntarily or as a lie. It’s meant to be fun, and will be mixed in with quizzes, competitions, data insights, graphs. Did you know that the most popular ice-cream in Russia is strawberry? This sort of info would be an easy sell on social media, who isn’t nosey?
So welcome to different-folks.com.
Find people like you, find people the opposite to you. Socialize on the bulletin board, get a free home page to decorate as you like, form groups if you want, get DM with permission, delete you accouunt, get one for your dog.
Data would be anonymized and aggregated by big data engines ( Google has one ).
N.B. This would be stepping into big data health epidemiology, and would at least be of academic interest.
With user consent the data might be made available on an anonymous level for analysis by marketeers.
e.g. people who shop at Walmart would be a good market for your tatty product.
I had this idea a while ago, bit didn’t persue it. I now feel I’ve got a much better idea on the problems and possibilities.
You could find “like people” by any criterion and socialize with them or avoid them. The making of the digital DNA and the stats and analysis would be fascinating. I’d have to get up speed on epidemiology.
Users asked to fill in a profile, basic info, icon ( choose 1 from a selection or upload ). Interests etc. Could tell the truth or lie. Would be told.
Advantages of telling the truth. The better picture we have of you the more likely to fit in with people like you. Honest Joes and compulsive liars would tend to clump together.
Or lie through your teeth.
If that’s what you enjoy, fill your boots. So if you’re George Washington, or Billy Liar, I’m sure you’ll be right at home here.