7.2 Face book Stalking…Brunswikian Style

The Brunswikian Lens Model is one way to try to understand how when making judgments about others online, we take the information provided and use it to make our judgments of that other’s personality. In their article about Facebook friends, Walther et al point out that the Brunswikian Lens Model, “…supposes that environmental cues function as a lens through which observers make inferences about the underlying characteristics of a target.” (Walther et al. 6). This model also takes into account the Functional Achievement (accuracy) of our judgments, which depend on Cue Validity (how much the information truly reflects the other’s personality) and Cue Utilization (which cues we actually use to understand others). If we are using the valid cues, we should come up with a relatively accurate assessment of the other person’s personality. The second part of this model focuses on the links between the individual and the environment, specifically: self-directed identity claims, other-directed identity claims, Interior behavioral residue and Exterior behavioral residue.

I decided to assess the personality of a girl (I’ll call her Anna) who I am friends with on Facebook but haven’t actually seen or talked to since we were about 7 years old. Self-directed identity claims are a way in which people remind themselves “this is who I am”, however, many could also be construed as other-directed identity claims which are meant to tell other’s “this is how I’d like to be regarded” (Walther et al. 7). One self-directed ID claim I noted on Anna’s profile was that she listed her hometown as “the Borscht Belt, NY” this is a sort of inside joke, (since most people wouldn’t understand this reference) reminding her that she is from a very rural area only known for attracting Jewish visitors during the summer. Perhaps this is her way of reminding herself where she came from and her not-so-proud but humorous understanding of her hometown. I also thought that certain groups such as “Sullivan County Kids” and “If you remember this you grew up in the 90’s” were more self-directed than anything else. Other groups such as “True Life: I’m a hooters girl” and “Beer Pong” seem more other-directed since they promote the image of her as a wild, party girl. Other-directed identity claims were also present in her profile, such as that she is single, as well as her interests such as “sex and the city marathons, wine, tiffany & co., dancing, shopping…” Interior behavioral residue are the traces of your actions on facebook that are left behind within the online space. For example, Anna’s mini-feed informs me that in the last week she has changed her profile picture, written on her friend’s walls, and posted pictures. This tells me how involved she is in the Facebook space and more by the way she addresses her friends in wall posts. Finally, Exterior behavioral residue are traces on the online space of your behavior outside the online community. Exterior behavioral residue was apparent in the numerous photos of Anna at parties, drinking, and posing with many friends, also she was a member of a couple of groups dedicated to specific parties or spring break trips which could act as indicators of her behavior in the past.

As far as her personality, through all these cues I understood her to be highly open (since she advertised that she works at hooters), not very conscientious (she never seemed concerned with advertising her underage drinking) somewhat neurotic (because she listed Tiffany & co. as one of her interests and included a quote from Paris Hilton that implies she’d like to be her) She seems fairly agreeable given her many friends and definitely highly extroverted since most of her identity seems to rest on social activities with friends. The judgments I made regarding Anna based on the Brunswikian Lens model should be fairly accurate if I utilized the cues that accurately portrayed her personality.

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