Your Online Profile Actually Tells a Lot About You

An anonymous reader writes "Despite all the media reports that your Facebook profile is giving the wrong impression, a psychological study shows people really can understand your personality from your online profile. Turns out you're not giving the wrong impression with your profile; you're giving the right impression to the wrong people. You can actually learn more about someone's Agreeableness from their online profile than from a first date."

Comments

Duh

[philspear]

The findings, in a nutshell, are:
People get each other
SNW profile owners are generally seen by others as they see themselves (i.e. impression agreement was substantial)
People on Facebook get each other
Impression agreement was associated with context (agreement was stronger on the basis of Facebook profiles than on YouJustGetMe profiles)
Women are better guessers and easier to guess than men (random assignment)
within the context in which raters were judging unknown targets (i.e., YouJustGetMe profiles), women were better raters than men and were rated with higher levels of agreement than men
Some profile elements provide better clues than others
several specific elements of the profiles were associated with increased or diminished levels of impression agreement.

The only remotely suprising thing was that women were both easier to understand and understood people better through profiles. Which is somewhat suprising, given the fact that 90% of people who use the internets are perverts and stalkers.

Some profile elements are more revealing than others? No shit. Of course my "favorite movies" is going to reveal more about me than my birth date. Assuming as I do that astrology is crap.

Re:Duh

[Anonymous Coward]

I think she wants to have sex with me.

Re:Duh

[story645]

That's a design flaw in your parser-it should know to recognize "-" as the preface to a new dependent clause.

My sig is ADD+sparkles, so I'd be surprised if it didn't make people go cross eyed.

Re:Duh

[bytesex]

Well, perhaps it's because you're a woman, and you *did* say 'string-drop'. Which gets me all flustered and confused.

Re:Duh

[Hognoxious]

Assuming as I do that astrology is crap.

You're probably a Sagittarius like me. We all think astrology is crap.

Whoa there!

[Anonymous Coward]

You can actually learn more about someone's Agreeableness from their online profile than from a first date.

This is going to go over a lot of Slashdoter heads. We need to rephrase this. How about:

"You can actually learn more about someone's Agreeableness from their online profile than from the geekiness of their t-shirts."

or

"You can actually learn more about someone's Agreeableness from their online profile than from the quality of their soldering."

or

"You can actually learn more about someone's Agreeableness from their online profile than from the quality of their code."

Oh, wait. The last one is probably wrong.

I agree

[Anonymous Coward]

It says you're the kind of person that has a Facebook profile.

Re:I agree

[ultranova]

I'm dead serious about this. Anyone who is spilling his personal info on Facebook or similar sites will not work for me in any sensitive area. If they are careless about their personal information, I will not trust them to keep any company secrets either. They just don't think of the ramifications of their actions, and I don't want anyone like that in any security job.

Seeing how you just revealed a potential vulnerability about your company's personnel - namely, that they are unlikely to have much to do with social networking, and thus could potentially be caught unaware if ever lured there - I'd say that you'd do well to pay more attention to the ramifications of your own actions :).

I'm dead serious about this. If you're so paranoid, then don't post the details of your hiring principles on Slashdot, since that makes it easier to profile your personnel and their vulnerabilities. Especially when doing so disqualifies you from working for yourself :).

Gold star for you

[i love pineapples]

So you've figured out from my facebook page that I'm an antisocial loser with no social skills. HOLY CRAP; are you some sort of detective?

Re:Gold star for you

[RuBLed]

I also found out that you seem to like this particular tropical fruit/berry.

Re:Gold star for you

[Noland150]

So you've figured out from my facebook page that I'm an antisocial loser with no social skills.

It was only a hunch until you posted on Slashdot as well.

Re:Gold star for you

[pclminion]

HOLY CRAP; are you some sort of detective?

DUH... That's what my profile says, isn't it?

Re:Gold star for you

[Anonymous Coward]

Quit misusing the word "psychotic". Psychotic refers to psychosis, e.g. as seen in schizophrenia. The word you want is "sociopathic".

I'm sorry; I can't go out with you.

[Repton]

An analysis of your posting history shows too many "Informative" mods and not enough "Funny". I'm looking for someone a little less serious-minded, someone who's not afraid to risk a "Troll" mod in the spirit of adventure.

Re:Of course this assumes that when you filled it

[earthforce_1]

That is why on the NYT registration page I am a 16 year old female attorney from Afghanistan named Osama Bin Laden. Honest!

Re:Of course this assumes that when you filled it

[Lehk228]

what if i actually like obscure and popular music, and have bad taste, you insentitive clod!

Re:The In-security Blanket

[corbettw]

It's really surprising just how much we disconnect ourselves from our many social inhibitions when communicating over the internet versus when we're actually interacting with others in public

I know what you mean: I'm naked while typing this.

Re:Of course this assumes that when you filled it

[story645]

You're my soul mate? I like the pretentious stuff everyone says they like but nobody really does, the popular stuff nobody wants to admit to liking, and everything in between. (Well with respect to movies more so than music.) I figure most people are like that. It's all in that mix and the stuff you choose to highlight.

Re:I call BS

[Joebert]

We should talk some time, what's your email address ?

Re:The In-security Blanket

[Kingrames]

I shudder to think where you work.

Re:The In-security Blanket

[pushing-robot]

I shudder to think where you work, at 10PM, on a Sunday.

Re:Of course this assumes that when you filled it

[Anonymous Coward]

a/s/l?

Re:Of course this assumes that when you filled it

[mjwx]

That is why on the NYT registration page I am a 16 year old female attorney from Afghanistan named Osama Bin Laden

That just tells me you're a pathological liar with a fetish for far-west Asian teens and extreme hatred of the US government.

And you also read the NY Times.

Re:Rand(om) but somewhat applicable

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll bite: You are a pasty teenage boy with an unconscious sexual desire for your mother.

You desire a lower slashdot id because you believe that will give you more status, but you haven't one because you spend your time posting to male dominated, english language forums and surfing porn.
 
Your philosophy on life is a cross between an advertisement for a breakfast cereal and a science fiction space opera.
 
You believe trolls are a higher form of evolution. ;)

Yuhhuh

[mqduck]

You can actually learn more about someone's Agreeableness from their online profile than from a first date.

A statement only Slashdot readers could believe.

Re:Of course this assumes that when you filled it

[Anonymous Coward]

are females allowed in pakistan?

Re:Of course this assumes that when you filled it

[Anonymous Coward]

Hi John Smith, I googled your name and it seems like you've done a lot with your life so far. You're hired!

Re:Hmmm

[KylePflug]

That's funny. I don't even have a Facebook profile. It's a rather lame thing to have. I prefer to do my 'social networking' in the real world.

... he wrote on Slashdot.

Re:To be entirely fair, though

[Anonymous Coward]

Look at the length of that post! You, sir, ar a chatterbox.

Re:Generalize much? :P

[somersault]

"OMG, you typoed a 5 letter word that I know how to spell! You must be more stupid than me!!!" lameness. It's not even pedantry, it's being a worthless loser and knowing it. Nothing more.

Everyone knows it's "typod". It's 5 letters, not 6. Dumbass.

Ah, this is going to be one to tell my grandkids in The Sims. How they will laugh and admire me :)

Re:Generalize much? :P

[untaken_name]

Annoying and visible, yes, but in no way representative for a whole gender.

You meant, "...but [they are] not representative of the whole [male] gender."

The words in [] are optional, but add to clarity and flow, in my opinion.

You're welcome.

Re:Rand(om) but somewhat applicable

[Veggiesama]

Mailboxes. I find mailboxes sexually attractive.

This new Internet thing has really turned my fetish for delivery boxes into a real old-fashioned perversion. Every day, it becomes harder and harder to put up the flag, if you know what I mean.

I don't think you know what I mean. Nobody does.

Well, except my Facebook friends.

You're no longer anonymous

[DRAGONWEEZEL]

Your IP address is 192.168.0.1