Getting One to Relate

Hello, Everyone,
Communication 245 has been an extremely interesting class so far; and our first assignment has been extremely fun. Doing homework that is so interactive really enables me to understand and apply what we learn in class. Given the assignment to enter a psychological space I was somewhat skeptical. How am I going to get someone I don't even know to talk much less open up to me? Putting myself in the position of the receiver, I assumed anyone I tried to interact with would automatically sign off. In this way I was applying the idea of homogenization i.e. that everyone would act like I would.
Interestingly enough the first person I im'd did sign-off; therefore my hypothesis was confirmed. However, I tried again and suprisingly the person responded with a simple, "hi." Just from the first words I assumed the person was skeptical and would be very guarded. In class we have discussed how instant messaging can be both asynchronous or synchronous but in this particular situation the interaction seemed solely synchronous. AOL has added a feature to instant messages that enables the receiver to see what the sender is typing thus we can tell if the person is actually taking a long time to answer the questions.
At the beginning of our conversation the person seemed quite introverted and was not very open to conversation. All my questions received one word answers and they did not inquire about my persona at all. It was not until I found that we had similar activities that the male opened up to me. After this I was able to get more descriptive and elaborate answers. From this I concluded that the person was actually somewhat extroverted once you broke the surface and very open. When I asked him if he would go on a blind date he not only said he did but implied that he would do it again. This particular fact shed new light on my previously formed impression of him. He seemed quite calm, lacking in any trait of neurotism; yet he did admit to being "ADD crazy" in highschool. He was neither agreeable or unpleasant to talk with and was conscious of what was going on but did not pay very close attention to detail (both of what he was saying and what I was asking).
My particular interaction directly supports the idea that our impression formation is enhanced with time when we are in a computer mediated area. At the beginning of the discussion I believe I definately overattributed the short answers as meaning the person was not friendly and uninterested. Additionally, later in the discussion he discussed how he was shy and then when we talked about relationships he said he was too embarrassed to ask someone out. In this instance I can see a little bit of the behavior confirmation theory taking place. I thought it was cute that he was shy and after that he seemed to play up the innocent and sweet guy.
Overall my impression changed and became more dense over time thus it was proven to be in line with the SIP model which states that our impressions develop slower in a CMC environment,.
It was a very interesting assignment. I was suprised that I actually wanted to continue talking to the person after I had all the information I needed!