My name is James. James Del actually. I work at a place called Gawker Media, something I find myself explaining to my parents every time I see them. They'll get it one day. I don't believe in Twitter, but I do believe in Facebook and LinkedIn. There's a Myspace page out there too, but never mind that. Questions, concerns, and comments can be directed to James, At-Sign Gawker, Period Com.
Quite the Stir
Well apparently my Wonkette post thoroughly pissed the people at SurveyU off. Here’s an email they sent to their entire network tonight:
Hey James,
Recently, you participated in a survey that explored the sensitive issue
of race, gender and politics.
We appreciate your participation and fully understand that we were
poking around in some sensitive places. As researchers, we detach
ourselves from what we’re examining and try to ask probing questions
that really force people to define what they think. We know that some
of you found the survey offensive but we asked the questions that we did
in order to fully understand the issues surrounding this unprecedented
Presidential election.
The questions that we asked on race and gender were standardized
questionsthat academic researchers have been using for years. The
advantage of asking these particular questions is that we compare what
you said to the answers of thousands of others who have answered these
questions in the past. While many of these measures asked you to agree
or disagree with statements that were highly charged, it was important
to us to measure the extent to which you agreed or disagreed each
statement.
In another segment we attributed statements that Hillary had made to
Barack and that Barack had made to Hillary in order to see whether it
was the statement or the person who made the statement that was more
important to you. We randomized who said what in order to make the
survey was as fair and unbiased as possible.
We had a programming error that some of you noticed, which caused us to
toss one question out, but aside from this minor transgression, we made
an honest attempt to sort out what’s driving the surge in political
activism that is sweeping colleges nationwide.
We did not conduct this survey for any client and intend to freely share
the results within the SurveyU community as well as with the media.
There’s no hidden agenda behind our efforts. We feel that sunlight is
the best disinfectant and we collect your opinions in order to help the
outside world understand what motivates you.
As a generation, Millennials (that’s you) are among the most racially
tolerant ever. You are breaking down gender barriers that have eluded
previous generations and you see the world in ways that fascinate the
media,
the government and the world.
We’re proud to do what we do. We’re honored by your openness. We’ll
continue to strive to help the world understand your generation and
promise to earn the trust that you place in us every time that you share
your honest and candid feedback with us.
-The ENTIRE team at SurveyU
We’ll see how Wonkette handles it tomorrow, though I still think it’s fucked up to ask if black people threaten you.
