The internet space I decided to enter was a chat room using Yahoo! Chat. I went into a boy bands chat room because I thought it sounded like a pretty safe choice, and Yahoo! has pretty boring chat room choices to begin with. There were only about ten people in the chat room and no one was saying anything so I left to find a new one. Just as I did this I got a message from another person who was the room.
Not surprisingly, one of the first things lakshya_king2002 asked me was, “asl plz.” I lied about where I was from, which is part of selective self-presentation of the hyperpersonal model. He then replied that he is a “22/m/India.” At this point, the only information about this man I have is that he is 22, from India, and in a boy bands chat room. This quickly cemented my impression that he is a creep. I know this is not a lot to go on, and it could be over-attribution, but I think I was probably right in this case. After this I started giving him one-word answers or not answering altogether, so he probably thinks I am not a very friendly person. However, this did not stop him from asking me to go to India, if I have a webcam, and when I will be online again. I think the hyperpersonal model is accurate, because by the end of this conversation, although I had few cues to use, I felt pretty strongly that this was a man to stay away from.
This experience led me to realize that where you meet another person in an online space can influence the assumptions you make about them. If I had been sent a message by a 22-year-old male when I was in a chat about rock music, as opposed to boy bands, I probably wouldn’t have jumped to the conclusion that he was a creep as soon as he said his age (I probably would have waited until after he asked me to go to India). This is because you have expectations about the kind of people you’ll meet in a chat room. If I had been in a singles chat, this whole thing wouldn’t have surprised me too much. The fact that I was expecting to be talking about the new Backstreet Boys CD, and instead got some guy asking me if I have a webcam, really through me off and led me to make assumptions more quickly.
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6 comments:
I can’t believe Prof. Hancock was surprised when most of the class raised their hands saying that there were sexual overtones in the conversations we had online. You were definitely one of the people subjected to that. A 22-year-old male, looking for girls with web cams in a boy band chat room—That guy definitely sounds like a creep! When faced with a situation like yours, I think it is expected for one to jump to conclusions about the type of person you’re talking to. In the real world, a person would never randomly walk up to your, ask for you age, sex and location, and then ask for you to come to their home. That would be extremely awkward. Since this chat was so uncharacteristic of what we experience in the real world, over-attributing what this person is like makes sense. Although the person you chatted with seemed quite extroverted, his extroversion seems a bit too much, and makes it understandable why the Hyperpersonal Model would be used.
Hey Anne, I think you bring up a good point about how the psychological space we are in, or even the subcategory within that space (i.e. boy band fans, within chat rooms), can effect our impression of the other person. I feel as though I have been separating the two in my mind until now. I thought of the psychological space as something that can physically restrict how we communicate because it’s only text, or it’s asynchronous. Then separately, I thought that what the person says would effect what we think of their personality. But your way of thinking combines the two; the concept that which psychological space a person chooses to enter, or which area within that space, can also tell about their personality. If I had entered a chat room I would have probably focused on what the person was saying to me and forgotten to take into account which chat room I was in.
After only reading the brief description of your conversation with the 22-year-old man in a “Boy Band” chatroom, I know that I would have developed the same impression if I had been talking to him. Your chatroom experience with this man definitely exemplifies Walther’s Hyperpersonal Model because you formed a strong feeling that he was a creeper from the limited number of cues you received. I thought you brought up a very interesting point in noting that not only the online space itself, but also the certain forums within it, can affect the assumptions you make about the people to whom you talk. In your case, the 22-year-old man chose the setting of a “Boy Band” chatroom as a type of self-presentation tactic. This “Boy Band” environment in which you spoke thus served to influence the assumptions you made about your chatroom “buddy.” Unfortunately for him, the setting he chose made him look like a creeper and only aided in your over-attribution and consequent strong negative impression.
Hi Anne. I enjoyed your blog, in which you described your online experience in a boy bands Yahoo chat room. I can relate to both your skepticisms and preconceived notions of internet spaces because I felt similarly as I approached an online chat room, myself. I agree with you that the specific online space in which you converse with an individual greatly influences the assumption you make of them. Just as you labeled the 22-year-old Indian man in a boy bands chat room a “creep,” I would have jumped to similar conclusions, however unfounded they are. Ultimately, I think that your impressions appropriately support the Hyperpersonal model because though you have few nonverbal cues on which to base an impression, you still manage to form intense impressions. Additionally, though your impressions are intense, they also are not comprehensive, and thus further supportive of the Hyperpersonal model. Though you explain the intensity of your impression, and the possible psychological factors that played a role in your impression’s formation, such as selective-self-presentation, I think that you could have gone in greater detail about the Hyperpersonal model. It appears from your description, for example, that you dwelled on the facts to form the impression that your friend was a creep, and this may be indicative of re-allocation of cognitive resources.
Hey Anne,
I found your conversation very interesting and was shocked at the extroversion this man portrayed. It's frightening to see how easily one can find themselves in a conversation like this. I just wonder how many girls not doing a homework assignment wandered into that chatroom hoping to gossip about their favorite bands.
I agree with your conclusion that the hyperpersonal model can be applied to your conversation because you formed a negative impression of him from a short period of time talking with him in the chatroom. Also, of the five big traits we discussed in class, I think neuroticism may apply because he asked you to come visit him in India. He definitely displayed extroversion; he initiated the conversation by asking for you age, sex and location.
I think you describe a very useful scenario and one from which we all can learn.
Hey Anne, I've always thought it's really funny how different people act online than they do in real life, whether it be because of the available anonymity or whatever reason. Imagine a 22 year old male acting like that in real life, walking up to you in a bar, and saying "Hey do you like N'SYNC? Me too...Wanna come to India to visit me?" Whether or not the person (you can never be entirely sure of the sex) is actually a creep is besides the point, behavior like that would automatically lead you to over attribute your assumptions. As far as extroversion goes, this person was obviously willing to disclose information and seemed fairly extroverted. The Hyperpersonal model could easily be used and makes based on the opinion you formed so quickly.
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