Monday, 7 February 2011

How does the internet see you? - Personas







A MIT Media Lab Personas project tries to "create a data portrait of your online identity", ie shows how the internet sees or profiles you, in order to critique data mining. It's not new, but still interesting - if you've not come across it yet, give it a go, or try it again if you first tried it in 2009, to see what's changed!

You just need to enter your full name in the box. It seemed terrifyingly accurate (mostly!) in my case. Improbulus being a rather unusual name, I just put that in.


It flashes through various screens, with statements supposedly about you, like these:
This apparently sums me up:


Of course if you share your name with other people, it may mix you all up - especially if one of your namesakes is more famous than you (perish the thought!), or at least has a higher profile on the Interwebs.

Still it's fun to try, though. And as your online footprint builds up, try it again in a few months or so and see how the results differ then! How does the internet see you, what's your online profile?