Assignment 3: 15-year-old Brianne

Before I even said anything to the room, I got at least 5 invitations to chat privately. Of all of the invitations, I chose the one from Clark125, because he seemed the least interested in cyber sex. When he asked my a/s/l, I told him I am a fifteen-year-old female from Massachusetts. I gave him a peak into my actual identity when he revealed to me that he was “17/m/GA.” Because I’m originally from Georgia, I got excited and told him I “used to” live in Atlanta (even though I still do).

I used many self-presentational tactics when chatting with Clark125. As should be expected, one of the first things Clark asked me to do was describe myself. Of course he meant this in a physical way, so I stuck close to the truth though I remained vague. I told him I had light brown hair, brown eyes, and that I’m 5’3. Though I did not explicitly say so, I attempted to convey myself as somewhat naïve, as I was only supposed to be fifteen. I was more adventurous when it came time for attitude expressions. When we talked about music, I told him I really liked Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown. When the time came to talk about movies, I told him my favorites were High School Musical and Center Stage. Will the lies ever end? I was truthful when I said I love Harry Potter, but I also told him I was an avid reader of CosmoGirl. The last tactic that was put to good use was the description of my social associations. I told Clark that, as a high school sophomore, I was a newly appointed Varsity soccer player. I also “admitted” to having a crush on a senior football player, and that I was secretly praying that he would ask me to the homecoming dance. In my opinion, I had a pretty good shot of attracting his interest by then because we had study hall together. It is fair to say that I was Basking in Reflective Glory.

In a chat room, it is very easy to manage an impression when it comes to descriptions of myself and the things I like. However, it is much more difficult to manage non-verbal behavior as well as sets, props, and lighting. The only sets, props, and lighting I put into use involved descriptions of my fake neighborhood, which were very brief. I said it was small, quiet, and I only lived two blocks from my high school. I was able to achieve some non-verbal communication, such as the use of emoticons. I would follow smug comments with a :) and playful comments with a ;-). If Clark became smug or sarcastic, I would readily respond with a :P. I will choose to argue that my other non-verbal communication came from the abbreviations and other types of Internet “lingo” that I used. For instance, I was not shy when using “LOL” or “OMG.” Though these abbreviations do portray actual words, the fact that somebody would use them does suggest a youthful, technologically comfortable personality.

FOR THURSDAY:
Comment 1: https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3186874989969223722&postID=5687063778743527603

Comment 2: https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3186874989969223722&postID=4192321380145037695