"Curious 1": Your Everyday Finincial Advisor

After Google searching “chat rooms,” I entered the first free chat room available. There was a menu of about 10 different rooms and I chose the most relevant: “College Chat.” I entered under my first name and began initiating conversations with several different people. The first, “GREG MSN,” was uninterested after he asked my “asl.” Apparently my “20-year-old /male/ New York” response was not what he was looking for. He seemed cold and uninterested (possibly the SIP Theory?).The next person I encountered, “Bob,” engaged in a bit more conversation but he was rude and cold as well. Bob replied sarcastically to my question of what he was doing with a sexual implication like “looking for guys like you…”(This could also be SIP?) Basically, his cold response led me to interact with another chat room attendee, “Curious 1.” This person seemed a bit warmer. I greeted with a hello and he began to inquire about my life, asking me what college I went to and telling me some information about him. He works in a finance firm outside of Toronto and graduated from Northwestern. I told him that it was my first time in a chat room and we began discussing why he would go into chat rooms. He was certainly a frequent visitor of this particular chat and told me it was because he could talk or fantasize about things that he couldn’t normally discuss with friends or co-workers. From there, it led to his sexual confession and his admittance to his sexual orientation. After he described his situation in more detail and revealed a lot more about his life I was compelled to pity him because of his situation.
At first, my impression was that “Curious 1” was pretty nice and outgoing; a dabbler among chat rooms. However, as he began to describe his life in more detail (mainly focusing on his sexual life), I became uncomfortable and formed an awkward yet still empathetic feeling about “Curious 1.” I also began to understand why he chose that particular nickname. In relation to the particular theories discussed in class, I would attribute the Hyperpersonal model to my impression of “Curious 1.” Initially, it involved the over-attribution aspect of the model. After finding out he worked in a financial firm and graduated from Northwestern I began making some assumptions about what kind of person he might be and questioning why he might be in the chat room. I assumed that he was secure, probably a bit older, and well-educated. I figured that he probably might converse about something interesting or intellectual. I think that my initiation of the conversation and my honest responses may have led to a factor selective self-presentation. For him, the combination of the obvious liberal connotations that come with Cornell and my integrity may have induced his openness and willingness to answer my questions about chatrooms. After sometime, the SIDE theory aspect of the Hyperpersonal model became apparent. I was able to understand his open ended conversation without specific punctuation. He also left me sarcastic cues that were easily distinguished from his normal language. Generally, my impression of him was positive. I was surprised at the intensity of his openness and ability to speak about his life. Personally, I would not be so revealing or open but it made for an extensive conversation.