A recent study conducted by the American Sociological Association concluded that there is a surprisingly amount of racism and bigotry on dating apps, and also in every single other place where humans are.
Researchers set out to explore the presence of racism in dating apps, but soon had to expand the reach of the study as they began to discover that racism was also present everywhere else in literally every single other place.
“We initially thought racism was more prevalent in dating apps because people feel comfortable being bigoted when they have anonymity,” says lead researcher and white man Mark Frommer. “Turns out people are racist on dating apps because they’re racist in real life. I, for one, was shocked.”
The study, which collected data on thousands of profiles, found that white users got more “matches” and messages than non-white users. It also found that white users were less likely to “match” themselves with non-white users and would often include racist requirements in their bios, such as “no black chicks” or “whites only”. The study also discovered that the racism found on these apps can also be found in every city, town and country and that dating apps are simply a microcosm of the racism in society at large.
But while most of the sociologists on Frommer’s team are patting themselves on the back for discovering racism, Dr. Tiara Plummer, the only black researcher on the study, has her own opinion.
“This study was a waste of our time and resources,” she says, candidly. “Obviously dating apps are racist. So is every other place I’ve ever been. It doesn’t take a study to tell you that. But then again jobs in sociology are hard to come by, especially for a black woman.”
The other researchers are thrilled with the findings and the implications they might have.
“Hopefully dating apps can start to delete racist users to make the apps safer for everyone,” says Frommer. “But all the racism that’s everywhere else at all times? Woof. Good luck!”
