I have always heard those scary stories about those creepy online addicts who stalk profiles and start conversations with random people they have never met before. Today, I was one of those stalkers. I decided to search AIM profiles until I found someone who seemed appealing to talk to. After searching many profiles, I finally came across a person's page whose 'interests' and 'about me' caught my attention. He had spent a lot of time updating his profile, so I automatically judged him to be a friendly on-line chatter. We began talking and did not seem too worried about the fact that we had never met in person (I on the other hand found it very strange to be talking to him without even knowing his name).
My conversation was a good example of the hyperpersonal model because I over-attributed my first impressions and generalized many of his statements . He had a picture of an animated guitar in his AIM screen and used emoticons frequently. He mentioned that he was from Texas and followed sports at UT. He also told me he was a double major at a university in Texas and one day wanted to be a pro golfer. From these small details, I concluded that he was a very warm, out-going person who was a good student, with goals and ambitions, was into music and enjoyed a variety of different sports.
It was very interesting to see how easy it is to judge a person based on an online conversation. Reflecting back on the conversation, especially with some of the knowledge I have already gained from this class, I realize that based on the chat I had with this male, I really don't know very much at all about him. I may know specific details about him, which may or may not be true, but I really don't know much about his personality or character. I understand more after completing this assignment the dangers associated with judging and stereotyping others based on online conversations.
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2 comments:
Rebecca,
While I was reading your post, I started thinking about some of the immediate impressins you made about your convo-partner. Maybe it makes me a cynic, but I kept thinking, what if he's lying? Especially some of the stuff he said about being a double-major at UT, from the way you portrayed his declaration, seemed to be more of a reflection of his ideal self than his real self.
It's interesting to see how fast we can jump to conclusions about people we truly have never met and will never meet in real life. The fact that his profile was updated so regularly, to me, seems like a sign that he is maybe more introverted and socially inept in real life because the way I see it, why are you spending so much time in imaginary life, and what could you be doing with your real relationships with this time? Again, this makes me sound like a mean person but I guess I just don't like the idea that you can convey a completely different persona online and no one would ever know the difference. Hence the abundance of online stalkers!
Also, I think you're still safe and not quite a stalker yet :) If not, then we're all creeps. Great post overall!
Hi Rebecca,
I really enjoyed your post and I actually had a similar experience that I wrote about. I had talked to this person via instant messenger and formed impressions that were much more exaggerated than they would have been if I was only an observer in the conversation, rather than a participant. I think it is easy to get caught up in online communication in that we tend to hinge on what the other person says, and that we react so positively towards people who gladly share their personal stories and information about themselves, especially to strangers whom they are unable to see face-to-face. I suppose that it is difficult to form a neutral or a negative impression of someone who is willing to share their life story with you simply for the sake of casual conversation. Intense impressions seem to naturally form when a person voluntarily shares personal details of his or her life with a stranger – it feels like they truly value your opinion or confide in you enough to give you this information. The Hyperpersonal model seems to support this idea. Anyway, I enjoyed your insight and your writing style, especially the humor at the beginning.
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