For this assignment I choose a message board that I have visited before. It is an on-line resource/message board that is dedicated to people that either have children or desire to. I have always found the things shared on this board fascinating, thus it will be the focus of my first blog.
The person I chose to observe for this assignment is one that I feel posts only with news of accomplishment. Below is a recent post:
We're doing really well...with the potty training!
He is down to having only a few accidents a day now. He also tells us that he has to go most of the time (instead of us telling him that it's time to go). And yesterday we went shopping, and he peed in the potty at the mall, and twice while we were in Wal-mart! Of course, that was me telling him "let's go potty" and we went. The little foldable potty seat was a life saver, because he wasn't wanting to sit down (he sits to pee most of the time) but once I put the little seat on the toliet he was happy to sit and pee. He must have been holding it too, because it was soooo much pee I didn't think it would ever stop! We were gone for several hours, and he came home with a dry pull-up! YAY! For the past week he has had a dry pull-up on when he wakes up as well - and once he's awake for about 5 min we go potty! YAY! I can't believe he's doing so good with it! Someone I know told me that it's just not fair because her son wasn't that easy to train.
My impression of this person is aided by a picture she has inserted under her user name. Assuming that is her, she is a while female. I'd guess she's late 20's to early 30's and her shopping trip to Wal Mart implies, most likely, middle-working class. She seems to have a warm personality, neurotic and probably extroverted. I can't tell her agreeableness from this exchange.
Because I have little data about her and am going off of a social post that is about her child, my immediate impression is that she wants us to think her child is smart, even advanced, which may be her view of herself as well - egotistical. From this I have a poor impression of her.
I feel that my impression is in line with SIP, even though I do not have non-verbal cues I am capable to exchange social information just from reading her post. It would take several more interactions/posts on a variety of topics to gain a better impression, which as theory states would take longer. I also wonder, as my commenter does, why does she choose this type mediated communication to share this news? I think my impression of her being egotistical may be right and she's looking for kudos from fellow posters.
The person I chose to observe for this assignment is one that I feel posts only with news of accomplishment. Below is a recent post:
We're doing really well...with the potty training!
He is down to having only a few accidents a day now. He also tells us that he has to go most of the time (instead of us telling him that it's time to go). And yesterday we went shopping, and he peed in the potty at the mall, and twice while we were in Wal-mart! Of course, that was me telling him "let's go potty" and we went. The little foldable potty seat was a life saver, because he wasn't wanting to sit down (he sits to pee most of the time) but once I put the little seat on the toliet he was happy to sit and pee. He must have been holding it too, because it was soooo much pee I didn't think it would ever stop! We were gone for several hours, and he came home with a dry pull-up! YAY! For the past week he has had a dry pull-up on when he wakes up as well - and once he's awake for about 5 min we go potty! YAY! I can't believe he's doing so good with it! Someone I know told me that it's just not fair because her son wasn't that easy to train.
My impression of this person is aided by a picture she has inserted under her user name. Assuming that is her, she is a while female. I'd guess she's late 20's to early 30's and her shopping trip to Wal Mart implies, most likely, middle-working class. She seems to have a warm personality, neurotic and probably extroverted. I can't tell her agreeableness from this exchange.
Because I have little data about her and am going off of a social post that is about her child, my immediate impression is that she wants us to think her child is smart, even advanced, which may be her view of herself as well - egotistical. From this I have a poor impression of her.
I feel that my impression is in line with SIP, even though I do not have non-verbal cues I am capable to exchange social information just from reading her post. It would take several more interactions/posts on a variety of topics to gain a better impression, which as theory states would take longer. I also wonder, as my commenter does, why does she choose this type mediated communication to share this news? I think my impression of her being egotistical may be right and she's looking for kudos from fellow posters.
1 comment:
I am interested in determining how your final conclusions correspond with O'Sullivan's Impression Management Theory. Clearly, the mother you observed was engaging in a bit of boasting about her toddler son's "achievements" (I use quotations even though I'm sure potty training IS, in fact, QUITE an achievement). Based on the theory we discussed today in class, this mother's choice of mediated communication for her boasting is actually rather unusual. If O'Sullivan is correct, she should be discussing her 2-year-old's peeing with her mother on the phone; other mothers at a playdate; or, just generally, other people in less-mediated channels. Based on that assumption, it leaves me to wonder about the mother's personality. What can we guess about her, knowing that she made this uncommon choice? Maybe we would come to the conclusion that she didn't have alot of close friends who were parents, or who would appreciate this sort of topic. Maybe she's just particularly expressive in this psychological space and finds it more difficult to articulate in less-mediated channels. It's interesting to see how the impressions we make differ within the contexts of the theories we are learning. It's certainly changing my perspective of my online interactions.
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