Meeting a Stranger

As I searched the Internet to find a psychological space to interact with a target, I began to get slightly nervous thinking that I was going to have to approach a stranger. I thought the best way to approach this assignment, and not appear as a “weirdo,” was to find someone interested in the same things as myself. So, I went on America Online and found the discussion board section. As I was searching what appeared to be an endless list of discussions boards, I found one that was titled Britney Spears. I thought the people who wrote on this discussion board would be nice girls and easy targets to approach. I posted a response to a comment by cherrylove244. I also read her profile, which did not provide much information, but showed a picture. The picture was of a female about the same age as myself. I waited a few minutes for her to respond to my comment, and when she did not, I nervously IMed her. I Instant Messaged her some standard comment about Britney spears being crazy, and she responded. She IMed back “heyyy” and agreed to my comment. The fact that she actually responded to some random IM, made me so excited and I automatically thought that cherrylove244 was a really nice girl. Our conversation continued, and I asked her how old she was. Cherrylove224 said she was 23 and asked my age and gender. I nervously asked her where she went to college. I was so nervous because I felt weird, even in an Internet setting, asking this girl who seemed so nice online personal questions. She answered my question within seconds and we continued chatting for about 20 minutes. My short conversation with cherrylove244 has parallels with terms and theories we discussed in class and in the readings.
First, in the Wallace’s The Psychology of the Internet, she states, “We seem almost paralyzed in a social interaction until we know these two simple facts” (p. 22). The two simple facts she refers to are age and gender. I agree completely with this point. I looked at cherrylove244’s profile picture and found out she was a female in her twenties. Her gender and age are the sole reasons as to why I chose her as my target out of all the other people on discussion board. One of the first questions cherrylove244 asked me was my gender and age. My experience falls under the hyperpesonal model. I definitely played into the over-attribution process. I thought cherrylove244 was extremely warm and kind. I had very little basis for these thoughts about her, only a discussion board post and a brief instant message conversation with very small pauses. The fact that she actually talked to me, and answered my questions with no rude replies, gave me these impressions of warmness and kindness. The development aspect of the hyperpersonal model exists outside the boundaries of this assignment because we had a very short amount of time to complete the assignment. I only had one conversation with cherrylove244, not many over a long period of time. The selective self-presentation aspect of the hyperpersonal model played a role for me during this assignment. I did read cherrylove244’s profile and she provided a single picture of her and very little other information. She only allowed others to know or see what she wanted them to know or see about her. She showed viewers a single attractive picture of her. She did not provide any information as to whether she was witty or intelligent, just that she was relatively attractive. The hyperpersonal model focuses on less breadth and more intensity, and this is a fair conclusion to my impressions during this assignment.