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Finding Friends Via Search Query Analysis

prostoalex writes "How many times have you met an interesting person, who happened to check out the same book in the library, or listen to the same music as you do? Researchers from University of Chicago suggest that it would be kinda cool if you could find like-minded people by analyzing the queries submitted to a Web search engine. Their PDF paper explains the research in more detail."

29 of 190 comments (clear)

  1. Bob? by SpanishInquisition · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is that you?

    --
    Je t'aime Stéphanie
  2. Sounds like stalking to me ;) by caluml · · Score: 5, Funny
    Hi, I er found you by monitoring your searching habits, what food you eat, and what shops you go to....

    What, no I'm not a stalker...

    What do you mean.... Hello?... Hello?

    1. Re:Sounds like stalking to me ;) by caluml · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Like this, you mean? www.coincidencedesign.com
      I don't know if it's for real, but if it is, it disturbs me.

  3. Um... ya by OpMindFck · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, if the government or a corporation tracks an individuals surfing habits, it's bad. If we do it to get a date, it's good.
    Perhaps I'm missing something.

    --
    Sipping on Jolt and Dew. Laid back. With my mind of my cubicle and my cubicle on my mind.
    1. Re:Um... ya by mrjive · · Score: 4, Funny

      Welcome to slashdot.

      --
      If you can't beat them, arrange to have them beaten. -George Carlin
  4. What about referers? by CoolQ · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Forget about search queries, what about referers? I've met a lot of interesting people by looking at the referrer logs for my blog/website, and following them back to their blogs. I've even met some of them in person after talking to them online.

    Talk about coincidence... I met someone <wink wink> less than 50 miles from me, who linked to an obscure page on my web site.

    1. Re:What about referers? by commodoresloat · · Score: 3, Funny

      If you go through your referrer logs to meet friends, you really should get out of the house more.

  5. Old news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Direct marketers have been compiling this sort of information for years. From it they know that I'd like to increase various body parts, want a mortgage, need septic tank service, enjoy RC cars, and would like to meet other people and animals. Works flawlessly!

  6. coming soon.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    http://matchmaker.google.com/

  7. same yet different by pres · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The real problem is friends aren't necessary pope with the same interests. Rather it is the combination of similarities and differences that make a successfully friendship. While this might get you started I am not sure it will be that successful.

  8. Nooo by Apreche · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This will result in every porno watching person from perverts to pedophiles to unite into one large and dangerous organization.

    Also privacy, spam, etc. Don't want one guy who looked for porn one time to get sucked into 10 porn mailing lists or anything like that.

    --
    The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
  9. I don't think so by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Finding somebody just like me? Fuck No! I can't even stand one of me.

  10. social engineering by ChrisTower · · Score: 5, Funny

    I remember the days before the internet when people actually spoke to each other. I'm fairly sure that conversation is far more effective than analyzing search patterns and much faster too. Don't forget that the shortest distance between you and that person's bed is a straight so stop trying to hack their personality.

    Of course, this is only a suggestion and nothing that I'd actually do myself; I'm more the stalker type.

  11. AudioScrobbler by mgaiman · · Score: 5, Informative

    What about AudioScrobbler? They use the music that you listen to and compare it to the music other people listen to. They then find people with similar music tastes to you, and then you can expand your tastes by looking at what they listen to.

    (see my audioscrobbler>

  12. Looking for love. by cqpalzm · · Score: 3, Funny

    Oh that would turn out just great- you'd have people seeing anything related to girls, technology, Trek, or sex and people would be jumping "they're my soulmate!" probably only likely to find someone a little too much like them (male, lonely, looking for love in all the wrong places, looking for love in new search-based interfaces).

  13. What a relief by Timesprout · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now I know that I am not a pervert for constantly googling for lesbian pr0n, I'm a member of a community of friends. I feel so loved.

    --
    Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
    What truth?
    There is no dupe
  14. No, No - not really a good idea. by joshv · · Score: 4, Funny

    I am not sure I'd want to meet the other people that are searching for "Horny coed sex slaves".

    -josh

  15. Good point, but it doesn't exactly matter. by Bold+Marauder · · Score: 5, Funny

    I doubt that even the combined resources of government and corporations could get many of us dates!

  16. porn? by mrmag00 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I can imagine one big group of male, aged 13 to 21, made friends by this system due to the common porn interest.

  17. Happened to me with Natalie! by inoffensif · · Score: 3, Funny


    Hi Natalie Portman,

    I realized by monitoring your searching habits that we have sooo much in common...i too am an only child. i too have been a vegetarian since the age of 8. i too became a vegetarian because i saw a demonstration of laser surgey on a chicken at a medical conference with my father. i too can speak fleuent Hebrew, French, and Japanese. i too have hobbies such as : Dancing, Reading, Writing, Acting, Ice-skating Can we please one day get together and watch Friends and Ellen together??

    purty purty please??

    --
    - you are sofa king weed todd did
  18. Mediachest Let's You See What Your Friends Own by muscleman706 · · Score: 4, Informative

    There's a site called mediachest.com which lets you keep track of what dvds, games, cds, and books you own, then see what your friends own and it lets you create sharing networks between yourself and friends and people you know.
    The relevancy here is that because your collection is in the site's database, you have the ability to find other people with similiar interests and those can be narrowed down to people local to you (close to a certain postal code). It even lets you find like minded people based on what school you go to.

  19. Spot on by Faust7 · · Score: 3, Funny
    So, if the government or a corporation tracks an individuals surfing habits, it's bad.

    Right.

    If we do it to get a date, it's good.

    Right again.

    Perhaps I'm missing something.

    Nope, you've got it just fine!

  20. Google Labs dating service... by evil_mojo_jojo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yet another money making opportunity for Google. :-)

    Of course, I really don't want to meet the woman who's doing the same kind of searches I do... ewww.

  21. Similar feature in LiveJournal by Duck_Taffy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This idea is rather like something that's already available on LiveJournal. Users have the option to list anywhere up to 100 interests. You can then search for people who have a specific interest listed (it brings up both people and communities), but even better is if you're a paid member - you can search for people who share the highest number of common interests. The only down-side is that sometimes when you find a really cool person, their journal will have been inactive for a year or two.

    --
    Karma: Ran over your dogma.
  22. The intelligent thing by seangw · · Score: 3, Funny

    Friends would look for the same subject matter.

    If you're looking for a date you should search for opposite subject matter.

    Imagine typing:

    "Hot 20yo blond chick"

    and getting matched up with others looking for the same thing?

    You'd want to type "geeky nerd with a slightly smelly pile in the back of his room". Bound to find a soulmate if someone matches up with that...

  23. Re:Expand your tastes? by Kinlan · · Score: 4, Informative

    www.gnod.net is similar to what you are saying... I think it has quite a cool interface as well, but it not only does music, but books and films as well

    --
    As cunning as a fox, which has just been appointed professor of cunning at Oxford University. http://www.kinlan.co
  24. Of course. by LordZardoz · · Score: 3, Funny

    The only reason to track such information about a person is if you intend to screw that person.

    If the government wants to screw you, its bad.
    If an attractive member of the opposite sex wants to screw you, its good.
    If an attractive member of the same sex wants to screw you, um... I leave that for you to decide.

    END COMMUNICATION

  25. Find peer (or mentor or coach) matchmaking service by totierne · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Is there scope in the market for a non sex based matchmaking service, a 'FindPeer' service to encourage one on one peer (or coach or mentor) based short relationships? I did a rough spec and
    wiki page on such a service but at 10 hits from google in 4 months maybe it is not worth more investigation without more marketing!

    Most newsgroups and slashdot items seldom lead to interesting one on one discussion except perhaps for aggressive self opinionated 'experts' (allegedly).

    FYI I may have time for some one on one discussion but not necessarily to join an open source programming project, and the local linux group does not seem approachable enough for this purpose. Also the peer development may not necessarily be in the computing field.

    Signed a meek want-to-be peer developed with 10 years developer experience.

  26. Amen, brother! by swb · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Amen brother!

    I work in a pretty small IT shop and I'm the only one that does what I do, the rest have other specialties. When I'm in situations where I'm immersed in other IT people like myself I always remark on how much I *dislike* those people, even though we share a lot of the same interests.

    I find the same thing to be true in a lot of areas -- a lot of the people that I find that like X I don't like, even though we both like X.

    The people I do like and spend time with have more subtle and abstract similarities from a personality perspective, and in ordinary ways are quite different from me, which is usually a good thing.

    I find what interests me in people is uniqueness of perspective and depth of feeling. People with John Q. Public opinions and no feeling about them don't turn me on. People that feel passionately about something unusual I find fascinating, even if I find their opinions unappealing.

    I'm familiar with someone who embraces a lot of pretty scary far-right attitudes on politics, race, and so on, but he's capable of explaining them in an intelligent and thoughtful way. At the end of the day I disagree with him, but I still think he's very interesting.