Female screen names draw more threats and harassment.
In the study, automated chat-bots and human researchers logged on to chat rooms under female, male and ambiguous screen names, such as Nightwolf, Orgoth and Stargazer.
Bots using female names averaged 100 malicious messages a day, compared with about four for those using male names and about 25 for those with ambiguous names. Researchers logging on themselves produced similar results.
Michel Cukier, the study’s author and a professor at the University of Maryland’s Center for Risk and Reliability, said the findings show the risks of placing personal information on the Internet, “even disclosing just your first name.”
Well, I suppose it’s valuable to have studies quantifying what anyone who uses a female screen name knows, to pull out to show people who don’t think that harassment exists. I remember my first forays into AOL chat rooms circa 1994, using my friend’s account and her screen name of zsa zsa something-or-other. I’ve never had so many people ask me about my pubic-hair grooming habits in my life.
Another interesting finding shows that it’s highly unlikely that the harassment is done by bots:
Cukier said the difficulty of writing computer programs, or scripts, that can tell the difference between males and females online shows the menacing messages were not generated automatically.
“These are real users who seem to look for female names,” Cukier said.