Thursday's Psychology Trivia: Is Twitter a Reliable Personality Test?

Thought for the Day: What do you think could your personality be interpreted from your tweets? Will Twitter analysis replace the Rorschach, TAT (Thematic Apperception Test) & MMPI (Minnesotta Multiphasic Personality Inventory) personality tests? Could a computer offer reliable information about you and your personality from just 200 of your tweets? That's just 28,000 characters, not words you have written in shorthand! 

     To a degree, it makes some sense since you need to speak your mind in very limited bits of information. It requires creativity and forethought to craft good tweets, but will it create a true portrait of the tweeter? Dr. Michelle Zhou, IBM researcher at the Almaden Research Center in San Jose, CA believes she can decipher your personality from just 200 tweets.  She has developed a program which analyzes 200 tweets and prints out an elaborate personality profile. 

    Since I use twitter to let people know about my book, it would be fascinating to see what her program would say about me.  What do you think the computer would say in response to a sampling of my most recent tweets:

1. .@StevieWonder #JoseFeliciano .@RonnieMilsap Santa Inspires Blind 2 Reach4TheirDreams #News #HolidayHumor http://ow.ly/rLTtf
2.  @WakeUpDreamNow Tue's #Psychology Tips: How to Stop a #Cyberbully http://ow.ly/rQk2p An answer 2 a .@HealthTap Question 
3. .@BarackObama "I commend Santa on his yrs of dedicated service & wish him well in his new endeavors." http://ow.ly/rGI2y #Humor 
4. Help Santa Fulfill His Dream: A Modern Version of Up On A HouseTop #Funny #Video via @youtube http://ow.ly/rMus9 
5. #NewsFlash #Anchorman2 nixed using Santa's press conf, couldn't prove Santa was real. You B the judge http://ow.ly/rT4P1 .@SteveCarell 
6. @WakeUpDreamNow Miraculous Mon: Can Writing a Letter Save a #Marriage ? http://ow.ly/rNZvU #therapy #Psychology
7. Elf's Union Support Santa's Decision2Step down from sleigh Knew he was suffering, but kept his secret http://ow.ly/rGnn2 #Holiday #Humor 
8. @WakeUpDreamNow Wed's Words of Wisdom: John Dryden on #Bullying http://ow.ly/rSX5W #Blog.@DennyCoates TY4Sharing #Quote   

       I'm afraid to venture a guess at what the computer might say about my personality! Perhaps, it would be concerned that I could have an obsession with Santa Claus or an elf fetish! Hopefully, it would find that I am creative author and psychologist with a sense of humor, trying to help good causes. I may try to get my personality analyzed from my tweets & get back to you on the results!