I chose to analyze my friend Fran’s personality based on the profile which exists in the online space of instant messaging. The AIM profile is a small area to which the user can add text, links and other things so buddies can see them.
Fran’s profile revealed several environmental links as described by the Brunswikian lens model. The first one that I noticed was “Interior Behavioral Residue”. This is evidence in her profile of something that existed in the online space, namely instant messaging, that shows me something about her personality. In this case, Fran had copied and pasted snippets of other conversations she’d had into her profile. For the most part, they were just funny misinterpretations or quotes that she or a friend had said. After reading a few of them, I felt that she was very agreeable and extroverted, based on the positive, light-hearted nature of the quotes. I believe that she put these quotes in her profile to show these characteristics to other people, so that would make them “Other Directed Identity Claims”. These are items placed in her profile specifically with the purpose of making others aware of some trait or characteristic about herself. One of the quotes, however, also demonstrated a “Self Directed Identity Claim”. This is anything that Fran would put in her profile that is not meant to convey something specific to others, but to serve as a reminder to herself, or possibly be an inside joke with a friend. I didn’t understand the context of this conversation, but I could tell it was some kind of inside joke. It is both a self and other directed claim because it is put in there as a private joke between friends, but it also helped teach me about her personality, even though I didn’t know the exact meaning of the exchange.
The rest of her profile is peppered with “Exterior Behavioral Residue”. This is evidence of her life outside of AIM which teach me about her personality. For instance, she listed her Cornell hockey seat number. This is a clear indication of her life outside of AIM and also an “Other Directed Claim”. I can learn or infer that she likes her school as well as sports. Another example is a little tribute she has to what I know to be her best friends from her freshman dorm. There is a short, sentimental quote as well as a list of the dorm-mates’ initials with a heart on the end. This shows another aspect of her life outside of AIM. It is also a “Self Directed Identity Claim” because I don’t know what that quote refers to, even though it is probably very meaningful to those few people. This part of her profile showed me about her openness, especially her appreciation for emotion. The quote seemed to be very poignant, and I’m sure it’s much more meaningful to those people it involved.
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Richard,
Great post! I liked how you chose to do a different type of CMC, instead of going with Facebook. The AIM profile is especially interesting because it is really all manipulated by the target, and doesn't allow for un-regulated posts or anything. Your target's profile, however, managed to incorporate evidence of other people by quoting an IM conversation. Don't you think the online quote could have been classified as interior behavioral residue? I also interpreted the quote to be more self-directed, because I would think that a humorous quote between friends would be more of an inside joke, and not necessarily for the benefit of others. I liked how you also tried to analyze her personality based on few cues, and it seemed to me like you were following not only the Brunswikian Lens Model in this respect, but also the Hyperpersonal model, because you assumed several things about Fran's personaly based on her quotes from prior conversations. Interesting post :)
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