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Discussion on: Is Our Survey Biased Against Women?

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darkwiiplayer profile image
𒎏Wii 🏳️‍⚧️

Our main channels are social networks (Hacker News, Reddit, Twitter, etc.)

Honestly, the implication here sounds a bit like "Women just aren't on the internet, so we don't reach them", which I find odd.

Twitter, Reddit and Hacker News are, at their core, very accessible platforms. If you have something to say, you can create an account and participate, or just lurk and read what others post.

So the assumption seems to be that there is a sort of shadow CSS community with a higher percentage of women, which the survey just doesn't reach because they're mostly inactive online?

With such a web-centered technology as CSS, where would such a community be hiding, and is there any realistic way to actually reach them for future surveys?

Or did I just misunderstand what the post is trying to explain?

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sachagreif profile image
Sacha Greif

Twitter, Reddit and Hacker News are, at their core, very accessible platforms. If you have something to say, you can create an account and participate, or just lurk and read what others post.

I'm not in a minoritized demographic so that's also how I've always naively perceived these platforms. Just create a Hacker News account and leave a comment, what could be simpler!

But if not only minoritized individuals, but also the data itself, are telling us that there are biases on these platforms I think we should listen even if that doesn't match our own subjective experience.

So maybe we'll succeed in reaching out to a "shadow CSS community of women" or maybe we won't, but that doesn't change the fact that these biases exist and that we should take steps to fight them.

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darkwiiplayer profile image
𒎏Wii 🏳️‍⚧️

Just create a Hacker News account and leave a comment, what could be simpler!

The thing is, that's not just a perception. If we're considering the technical side, then that's just a fact, so we can safely assume that on the technical side there's no problem.

The data certainly does indicate that there's factors we don't account for and I'm very curious what those factors are.