When I walk into a room full of new faces, my perceptions are working as fast as possible to process and adapt the new information from everyone around the room. Stereotypes fly across my visual field; clichés are brought to the forefront of my mind. All of this occurs before a social introduction even has been made. After introductions are made, I try my hardest to steer clear of an altogether useless set of questions we are all too familiar with: What’s your major? What do you want to do with it?

When meeting someone for the first time, those first few lines of questioning will determine the rest of your interactions with that person, so plan accordingly. Have you ever noticed when two people meet in class, it’s difficult at first to move away from discussions regarding the class shared between the two individuals? There are so many sides to first impressions that in order to describe them all — to do them all justice — would require multiple weekly editions of The State News, so I will keep each aspect as brief and concise as possible. This week, I felt it necessary to discuss the farthest part of first impressions: Impressions made over the Internet.

While interviewing students to gauge their enthusiasm and agreeability toward using Facebook to meet new people, an interesting trend arose that — when looked back upon — makes total sense. What students actually said makes no real difference, but I found that when I asked how likely they would be to make new friends online, agreeability rose as the age of the students fell.

It seemed freshmen — who were introduced to Facebook and Myspace earlier — were more receptive than their senior and graduate school counterparts to the idea of making new bonds online. The upperclassmen tended to stray away from online networking as a way of forming new bonds, while freshmen and sophomores were sometimes more willing to connect online than face-to-face.

There are many ways to meet people for the first time. As MSU students, and also as members of the technological generation, doors to new means of introduction are being opened almost daily. No longer do students solely rely on the Main Library, cafeterias or house parties to meet new people. Instead, Facebook and Allmsu.com are the preferred methods of social interaction among the masses.

A new concept, known as “digital first impressions,” is on the rise. Newsweek recently released a study detailing how digital appearance accurately can portray a great deal about a person’s personality.

“More than 700 million people worldwide are now using online social networking sites that showcase personal photographs, but few realize just how accurate first impressions online can be.”

In the study, ten carefully selected personality traits were determined by participants attempting to describe their “first impressions” of an individual’s profile pictures: “extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness, likability, self-esteem, loneliness, religiosity and political orientation.” So does this form of impression — born from Internet interaction and Ethernet entanglement — hold fast to the direction human development is meant to go? Does this form of interaction hinder mankind as a race, causing gaps in physical social communication?

When meeting new people, I’m analyzing and assimilating new information faster than my conscious mind can formulate opinions, so how does that translate to the digital world? Only time will tell, but in my mind, the more interaction based on the computer, the farther students stray from physical reality. Human interaction is meant for social events and chance meetings, not social sites and Facebook group messages.

Josh Cohen is a State New guest columnist. Reach him at cohenjo8@msu.edu.