7.2 Impressions with the B.L.M.

I have never met my friend's girlfriend, Caley, yet I still am able to form an opinion about her due to clues on Facebook. The Brunswikian Lens Model describe one way we form opinions of other people. It explains how individuals can leave artifacts that we use to make judgments about them. The model has a way of describing how accurate a cue is - cue validity. When a cue correctly portrays an individual then that cue is said to be valid. Because not all cues are used when making a judgment, the model uses cue utilization to describe when a cue from the environment is used. If both cue validity and cue utilization occur, than the observer should form an accurate opinion of the person that the cues are about. This is called functional achievement.

In addition to cue validation and cue utilization, there are four mechanisms that link individuals to the environment: self-directed identity claims, other-directed identity claims, interior behavioral residue, and exterior behavioral residue. Self-directed identity claims are "symbolic statements made by occupants for their own benefit, intended to reinforce their self-views" (Walther et. al). On Caley's Facebook profile, her religious views are "To love another person is to see the face of God." This doesn't seem like she is trying to let other people know about her religion, but she is a person who believes in strong relationships with others and they are very important to her. This is an example of a self-directed identity claim. Other-directed identity claims are symbols that are meant to help other people understand how an individual would like to be regarded. An example of this on Caley's profile is essentially all the information about her. She lists contact information, interests, activities, and more. These are all things that are meant for someone else to see so they can understand what Caley is like. Interior behavioral residue is evidence of an individual's behavior that is within the environment. I found plenty of examples of Caley's interior behavioral residue by reading posts she made on my friends wall and other people's wall. Reading these also help me learn more about her. Exterior behavioral residue is similar to interior behavioral residue, but the evidence is about things outside of the environment. In Caley's example, she has many photos of her doing things at school and hanging out with friends. These are all examples of exterior behavioral residues.

By looking at all the evidence presented in these four factors, I can really learn a lot about Caley. I know that she really likes to read, particularly Harry Potter, because it is listed many times in her profile. I also know her friends are very important to her because she has many wall posts every day and she has a lot of pictures of her hanging out with her friends. I also know that she values her family because she has an album on her profile of just relatives. Having an album of family members is not very common on Facebook and this example of self-directed exterior behavioral residue says a lot. It is, however, difficult to determine the cue validation on Facebook unless you know that person in real life. On Facebook it is very easy to lie and sometimes someone will do it to create a false impression of themselves to other people.

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5400576841210402935&postID=2428410553761115692
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5400576841210402935&postID=4284547136763397285