essentialsaltes: (Default)
[personal profile] essentialsaltes
Okay, I may be a little late getting the news, but some wacky guys named Koppel and Argamon have devised an algorithm that checks fiction for certain words and basically decides if the author is male or female.
The algorithm is absurdly simplistic. You get 'male' points for the following words: the, a, some, [numbers], it
You get 'female' points for: with, [possessives], for, not

The idea seems ludicrous, but apparently there's some merit to it. It's simple enough that it has been turned into tools on the web, where you can cut and paste into the text box and analyze away. And now there's a tool for analyzing LiveJournals.

Here are some results picked off my Friends list:

[personal profile] essentialsaltes - 70% male
[profile] chibi_neko - 63% male [wrong]
[profile] bellwethr - 60% male
[profile] talentlessclod - 60% male
[profile] mersh - 59% male
[personal profile] britgeekgrrl - 54% male [wrong]
[profile] mayxbo5 - 49% male
[profile] tardpenguin - 49% male
[profile] dreamguy - 46% male [wrong]
[profile] oohbarracuda - 46% male
[profile] n0t2shabby - 45% male

It's interesting that the females are mostly clustered from 45-49, so maybe the scale should be shifted a little bit. I.e., if the dividing line were between mersh and britgeekgrrl, the test would have one more correct answer, and girly-girls like Ice and Elke would be further from from the dividing line. Of course, since my writing is apparently so powerfully rugged and masculine, I wouldn't mind if the scale were shifted 5%, but maybe there's some limp-wristed pansies out there who would lispingly complain.
Time to go read some of Two-Gun Bob Howard's stuff.

I need a shot of testosterone

Date: 2003-09-23 12:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] talentlessclod.livejournal.com
Only 60% manly?

Time to write more entries about drinking and fucking.

Maybe in all upper case letters even!

Re: I need a shot of testosterone

Date: 2003-09-23 01:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] essentialsaltes.livejournal.com
Though I'd enjoy reading that, it looks like the words to use are 'a' and 'the' if you want to sound manly. Don't ask me why. I'm just the messenger.

Profile

essentialsaltes: (Default)
essentialsaltes

January 2026

S M T W T F S
    123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Feb. 3rd, 2026 01:55 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios