Huge sports fan...perhaps??

I entered this assignment with a bit of hesitation and nervousness, being that it was my first online chatting experience and had no idea of what to expect. The chat room I entered was at familychat.com which I found though a general Google search; and after entering my age (21) I was directed to the adult chat room. Upon entering I was immediately greeted by a few active participants, one of whom had the nickname DeeMan. From the beginning I picked up on many of the numerous cues we discussed in class, which led me to develop an impression and some assumptions about what DeeMan was like in reality.

First of all, the nickname (DeeMan) the iconic symbol (a football) quickly demonstrated that the person I was chatting with was a male. His verbal cues led me form some passive impression formations. For example, I believe that DeeMan was a sports fan (specifically a football fan) and that perhaps he even played a defensive position for a team somewhere- hence the “Dee” part in his nickname. DeeMan used some of his own tactics to form an impression about me as well. By engaging in interactive strategies like ASL (a.k.a, Age/ Sex/Location) he learned more about where I was from, and later why I was there (being a student). The questions I asked him in our dialogue assisted me in categorizing him socially. For example when I asked him where he attended college he informed me he went to the University of Texas, which was near where he grew up. Leading me to believe he was a “southerner,” and had a good education under his belt. Many of our questions during our chat were interpersonal probes which allowed us to selectively choose what we wanted to share about ourselves.

In regards to personality categories, DeeMan most outwardly demonstrated extraversion and openness. He was the first to greet me in the chat room, gave me a short introduction to the topic of discussion, and throughout asked me my opinion about the few topics we discussed. He went out his way to get me to participate. By far he was the ring leader in the group, making sure that the conversation kept going. He was never hesitant to answer my questions either, which is why I would have categorized him as open. Additionally I gained the impression that overall he was a warm and friendly, but not too emotional of a man.

After evaluating the conversation and impressions gained from DeeMan, I realized that the Hyperpersonal model best fits the way I gained my impressions. The few cues I did have, most of them initially being verbal, led me to make huge generalizations about this individual. For example I thought he was the “sports fan, who is a typical male because he especially loves football.” Additionally, the little information I gained about DeeMan made me feel as if I knew him for a while and at the end of our conversation I had a really good impression of the guy. I believe that I over-attributed the few cues I did know about him which made him seem almost familiar, and the reason I thought mostly positive things about him was due to his selective self presentation.