Some observations on the differences between straight and gay individuals on Facebook:

• Straight, conservative males tend to be listed as married to another male.
• Straight females tend to be “married” to other females.
• Gay males tend not to list what gender they are “Interested In,” and are often listed as married to a female.

Do Facebook users even know how to tell the truth?

They may not know how to tell the truth, but they are certainly providing a data channel with high informational content:

* If someone is listed as in a regular relationship, that’s usually a real listing.
* If someone is listed as being married to someone else, they are usually a) playing with norms or b) hiding their orientation, and either way are of the opposite orientation.

Seems simple to me!

umm…who’s facebook is that from? is it who i think it is…

Now that’s just disappointing. Incorrectly stereotyping your individual “friends” isn’t going to get you OR the gay rights movement anywhere, Michael.

Wow, I must say that was a very bold entry you have written Michael and I sincerely disagree with you.

Contrary to what you have written, most conservative strait males write that they are in fact interested in women. I’m curious to know who your examples were of conservative strait males who do not do this, because I have not seen any. Seriously. Not one.

Another flaw I have noticed is that “strait females tend to be married to other females” this is not true. “Tend” implies “most” or “often times,” which is …. simply wrong. Most strait females do claim to be interested in men, even if they ARE “married” to another female.

ALSO… when strait females DO claim they are married to another female but also say they are interested in men, it is quite honestly obvious that they are kidding about being “married” to another female… or even just being “married” at all.

I also have to disagree again with this word “tend” I’m strait. I’m not married to another girl. In fact, as I glance over my facebook, only a handful of strait females are… and they also claim to be interested in men, making it obvious that they are kidding around…. I am at a complete loss as to how you resulted in your oh so bold conclusion.

Finally, all the gay people I know on facebook are very clear that they are gay. Most of them arn’t claiming to be married at all! The one’s who are claiming to be married are “married” to someone of the same sex, which goes along with their gay sexual orientation. This post would not have bothered me this much if you weren’t so accusatory in your generalizations. Many people can look at the top of your post and realize that the facebook heading you have lifted belongs to someone we know. I really find that not just mean but wrong. No one has any right to just decide if someone is gay or if they are strait and it seems as if you are doing just that. Your examples are sweeeeeping generalizations that from what I can see are mostly false. I care about you dearly Michael but I firmly disagree with what you have written and the accusations you have made.

http://www.540mbps.com/?p=193

I actually haven’t been reading your blog that faithfully, so I decided to catch up on the archives tonight.

I’d like for you to consider that when you posted this, you didn’t just make yourself look silly; your presumptions were overzealous and unfounded, and you lost a lot of credit with people who care about you. No one likes being put in a little box.

I know it’s an outdated comment, but I’m just… disappointed. I feel as if the retraction and apology weren’t really enough. It makes sense that you don’t want to censor yourself (and I fully support you on that front), but tact is an admirable quality in any kind of journalistic endeavor, and I would encourage you to use some, especially when dealing with your friends.