7.2 Brunswiking a Chance Encounter...

For this assignment, I set out to analyze a Facebook profile using the Brunswikian Lens Model and the Five Factor Model, in order to gauge an individual's personality as it exists on an online social networking site. As the subject of this analysis, I chose an individual that I have virtually no FtF experience with - she is a girl that I met by chance, at 4:30 AM in the morning on a sidewalk very far from my apartment, who gave me directions back to Cornell campus, and the morning after, a Facebook friend request. She seems the perfect individual for analysis, as she seems to be very active with her Facebook account. We'll refer to her as "Mary."

The Brunswikian Lens Model is an impression formation theory used by Walther et al. that focuses on how personality byproducts are used by others to create an impression of an individual. Central to the model are the concepts of cue validity and cue utilization. Cue validity refers to the truthfulness of the information being conveyed through a particular cue; cue utilization refers to the observers decision to include the cue in the formation of an impression. Cues can take on the form of either identity claims (self- or other-directed) of behavioral residues (interior or exterior).

Applying this theory to Mary's Facebook profile, we can see a number of self-directed identity claims, which are cue meant to reinforce one's self-views. Firstly, she repeatedly features profile pictures that are of her in her younger years, a lot of which have to do with her childhood; in one instance, her profile picture was of her sitting with a kid on her lap (giving no indication of their relation). There are also a number of photographs in her albums that are pictures of objects or locations that are unexplained and which serve as personal images that only she or a small group of people recognize. In her quote section, there is a small amount of quotes that appear to be inside jokes, as they are attributed to individuals on a first name basis ("blah blah blah --as Jacquie would say"). Other-directed identity claims make up virtually everything else on her profile -- from her listing of favorite music and movies to her decision to add certain applications.

Mary's interior behavioral residue consists of cues that results from behavior within the medium itself. In this case, the medium is Facebook. Examples of Mary's interior behavioral residue would be the many instances in which she performs an action that makes the NewsFeed -- from her wall posts to others, to her uploading photos, to her constantly sending me "Causes" invitations -- the cumulative history of her interactions within Facebook. Exterior behavioral residue cues are traces of Mary's experiences outside of the medium. Examples of this include photographs of Mary at a gathering or sports game, or a number of wall posts referencing Mary's adventure at a party the weekend before.

Provided that I have interpreted these cue correctly, and that my impression demonstrates functional achievement, I would use the Five Factors Model to describe Mary as highly conscientious and agreeable, moderate in extroversion and openness, and low in neuroticism.

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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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7.2: Through the (Brunswikian) Looking Glass

According to the Brunswikian lens model, individuals form impressions of others from the behaviors and artifacts that they produce. We judge others' personalities through the "lens" of these cues. According to the model, cue validity occurs when a particular cue reflects a person's true personality. Cue utilization sets a distinction between those cues that we use to form impressions and those that we ignore. Ultimately, the model supposes that when we utilize valid cues to form impressions, functional achievement, or the development of accurate impressions, occurs.

For this assignment, I chose to use Facebook to form an impression of a random Cornell student that I had never met (hereafter referred to as John). According to research built upon the Brunswikian model by Gosling, Ko, Mannarelli, and Morris (2002), there are four types of links made between individuals and the environment that we are able to observe. First, self-directed identity claims are assertions people make about themselves for their own benefit. John's profile picture, which is a picture of Scar from The Lion King, is an example of a self-directed identity claim because it seems to be somewhat of an inside joke. It would be difficult to make any explicit judgments about John based on the picture, but it obviously has some sort of meaning for him. The second type of link is the other-directed identity claim, which is used by people to indicate how they would like to be regarded by others. On Facebook, the activities and interests that one lists fulfill these criteria. Most of John's profile is filled with information about his musical tastes and references to the fact that he likes to DJ and party. With this information, I came to the conclusion that John is very extroverted and open. Interestingly, this also emphasizes the ambiguity of self-directed identity claims. With my newfound information, the picture of Scar seemed to enhance my perception of John as outgoing and playful. But what if, say, the rest of his profile was different (perhaps not as descriptive)? I might then interpret the picture in a completely new way, maybe seeing John as sly and cunning.

The third cue is interior behavior residue - traces of one's behavior in his or her immediate environment (in this case, Facebook). On Facebook, the mini-feed perfectly illustrates this concept; it describes all the actions one has taken recently on the network. John's mini-feed is covered with notices of him being tagged in and commenting on photos, reinforcing my belief that he is very extraverted. The final link is exterior behavior residue, meaning traces of one's behavior that was performed outside of his or her immediate environment. Of course, the quintessential Facebook parallel to this concept is the sharing of photographs. John's photos mainly depict him at gatherings with his friends, once again supporting my opinion that he is extremely extraverted. In some, he is dressed in a suit, leading me to believe that he is conscientious to some degree.

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7.1: a social netWORK community

As described in class and in the Haythorhwaite paper a community is made of a web of affect laden relationships. These relationships often overlap and in turn reinforce bonding between members. Communities require commitment, a set of shared values, and more or less a sense of shared culture. The SNA (social network analysis) can be used to look at the properties and characteristics of a community, by evaluating certain aspects of social capital: common ground, networking, and reciprocity.

I had a difficult time thinking of an interesting online community that I belonged to besides of course the typical facebook groups. After a little thoughr I realized that the company I did my internship with over the summer had an established online community which was accessible via their intranet which was called “The Box.” On The Box you could not only access your email and a wide range of company databases, but there were also many social networking features. Each employee had a profile with a picture, there were message boards, an inter-office instant messaging system, and place to post interesting news, pictures or personal updates. The social networking features definitely affected the physical workspace of the corporation. The virtual community helped expand social networks because many times people in different departments would never have the opportunity to interact so The Box often helped in establishing common ground and building relationships. Throughout the office people from various floor and departments could join the same softball team, express interest in a movie that just came out, even or plan next week’s meeting agendas. The online social networking available on the box reinforced the corporate culture and it assisted in company bonding. The concept of reciprocity was also evident on “The Box.” For example when an individual employee would start a message thread or an initiative on a message board it was often followed up with numerous comments and responses. There was always mutual feedback and exchange of ideas, sometimes the comments were all praise but others also contained constructive criticism. It was a very open and free environment where anyone in the corporation, from the CEO to the janitor could access and immediately feel like their opinions, ideas, and shared information was valued and seen. The virtual CMC environment had an effect; because, it helped create relationships through networking that were later furthered in reality by establishing common ground and reciprocity online.

Because this particular site is password protected I cannot post a direct link to The Box, however here is a link to the company: http://wilsonmiller.com/

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7, Option 1

This semester a friend of mine has been working on a personal project and I have been helping him with it. As mentioned in the Cornell Daily Sun, on various online outlets, and even as part of Professor Hancock’s lectures, a senior Comm. Major, Alex Kresovich, has been producing a hip-hop album for charity and I have been on of his team members working on this project. I have been working for Alex as his “publicist” and one of my duties was to create a Facebook group promoting the album and providing news about its’ release. The Facebook group I have made satisfies Tonnies Gemeinshaft view of communities that Haythornwaite describes in her article.

In “Social Networks and Online Community”, Haythornwaite describes online venues “to provide the shared purpose, common language, affective relations and group orientation characteristic of Gemeinschaft” (Haythornwaite). By creating the Facebook group “The Crowned Prince is Coming” (http://cornell.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19596596296) I have in turn created a community of people who share the common interests of promoting this album, hip hop music, and supporting Alex.

As Haythornwaite states, social networks are made up of actors who are related through ties. In my Facebook group, the actors would be the group members who exhibit both strong and weak ties. There are many strong ties within this network, such as Alex’s team members who have been helping him with the album. These team members (myself included) have been meeting face to face as well as communicating through emails and Facebook messages. This combination of FtF and CMC is an example of Etzioni and Etzioni (1999) synergies. Since we met several times in person and then continued to communicate through CMC, we were able to be more effective than if we had only used one mode of communication. Another example of synergy in this network occurred when we had an album release party last weekend. The party allowed the Facebook members to get together and celebrate the release of Alex’s album. Many people who were group members but didn’t know each other were able to meet. Also, the party fostered pride and support for Alex and his album that wouldn’t occur if the network relied solely upon CMC.

These people who met at the party but didn’t know each other beforehand would be considered weak ties. They were members of the same group and supported the same cause, however they were merely acquaintances. This shows how a social network online can allow for exposure to new information. Through belonging to the same network, people who did not know each other were able to meet. Also, the Facebook group existed as an outlet for people to find others who were interested in the same type of music and share information that they would not have otherwise known about had they not been in the group. For example, a friend from one of my past internships joined the group to support met, and found out that after joining the group there was someone in the group who could help him out with his own music career.

The Crowned Prince is Coming has proved to be a very successful network with almost 500 people. It has helped foster support and awareness of the production of a charity hip hop album and allowed for many people to connect through common interests. I am proud to have made my very own social network!

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.

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7 She Likes To Party

The Brunswikian Lens Model describes the way in which we use environmental cues to form impressions about others. Two factors determine whether an accurate impression will be formed: cue validity and cue utilization. Cue validity refers to the extent to which a cue accurately reflects a personality trait, while cue utilization refers to whether a particular cue is used to asses personality traits. When a cue is valid and utilized, functional achievement occurs, enabling accurate impression formation.

This model describes four types of environmental cues often used in judging personality traits. These cues include self-directed identity claims, other-directed identity claims, internal behavioral residue, and external behavioral residue. Examples of each cue type exist within almost everyone’s Facebook profile, guiding impression formation between real-world friends and virtual acquaintances whose interactions will never exceed the bounds of Facebook.

Despite never having met my best friend’s cousin, I think I would be able to assess her personality fairly accurately. My first impressions of Sara were based solely on her posts on my friend’s wall, which were always ridiculous, amusing, and mildly eccentric. The posts somehow became a frequent topic of conversation among our friends and a few of us became Facebook friends with Sara just to see what she would write on our walls. Because the extent of our interaction has been mutual profile access augmented by the rare wall post, my only cues to her personality come from Facebook.

All of the cue types described in the Brunswikian Lens Model are present in Sara’s profile. Other-directed identity claims, which are presented for the purpose of conveying a particular persona to others, include the pictures she posts and her personal information. Her pictures unfailingly depict an outgoing, spontaneous person who enjoys partying and finding every opportunity to be ridiculous. Though her photo collection is extensive, her presentation of personal information, which consists of just three interests, could be described as minimalist. The sparseness of her profile could be an attempt to buck the trend, which is compatible with the rest of her identity claims. In addition, one of her interests, “living with flair,” seems to perfectly capture the image she strives to portray. Self-directed identity claims, which are inward attempts to reinforce a self-concept, may include both of the cues previously labeled as other-directed. It is possible that her pictures help to remind her which social group she belongs to, while her “interests” are explicit statements of her lifestyle objectives. The application she displays, “Addicted to The Office,” may be another instance of an identity claim that does double-duty as both self- and other-directed, reminding herself and others that she has a good sense of humor.

External behavioral residue, consisting of cues that are inadvertent byproducts of behavior outside a given space (Facebook, in this case), is readily available in Sara’s profile. Wall posts from others confirm that Sara’s friends like to party and hope to attend a Spice Girls reunion concert. We can assume that she sanctions their preferences and the pictures her friends have posted show that Sara actually lives the life she professes to live. As for internal behavioral residue, which consists of behavioral byproducts within a given space, one friend commented on her wall that he was removing some of his Facebook applications for her benefit. From this, we can infer that she disapproves of displaying multiple applications.

Based on these environmental cues, I would judge Sara to be highly open, highly extroverted, less conscientious, fairly agreeable, and slightly neurotic. Whether this assessment is a functional achievement depends on the validity of the cues she has presented.