Facebook Judges You By Your Surname

Last night, the Facebook Data Team posted some new information about the diversity of its user base. The note describes the roundabout way in which the team determined the ethnicity of Facebook users — they used Census Bureau data about the typical ethnicity of the most common American surnames.

Many commenters have pointed out the possible errors in this method, although the researchers themselves also addressed them in the post. I have a few additional questions of my own. For instance, what would they make of Whoopi Goldberg? Or people whose last names are so rare that they don’t even rank on the Census Bureau’s chart (coughGalellacough)?

Obviously any sort of demographic data is useful to brands, but Facebook could have collected much more accurate stats if they had just asked. Several commenters suggested that Facebook have an “Ethnicity” field in profiles that could be hidden if desired (like how Facebook allows you to hide your birth year). Sure, there’s the possibility not everyone would want to answer, but it seems like a more accurate — and easier — solution than the current one, right?

—Alyssa