(Twitter) Personality Insights

My friend David D’Souza recently shared over on Twitter details of IBM Watsons Personality Insights tool. Basically it can take just your tweets and derive personality characteristics that are divided into three dimensions: the Big 5, Values, and Needs. There’s currently a free trial you can use here by clicking on “Your Twitter Personality“.

I have to say if you do try this yourself or if you are interested in others results you must take time to read the accompanying notes on the models, definitions and meanings of words here.

So unsurprisingly perhaps I was slightly skeptical but intrigued about what the results would turn up for my own Twitter account @ChangeContinuum. Five seconds later and I’ve got a report and a task of interpretation ahead of me…

Then I wonder if what my other Twitter account @David_Goddin would turn up and how that would differ. This account tends to be where I post more about my family life, local events and pictures of dogs, food, skies…

Perhaps unsurprisingly there are meaningful differences and similarities. It’s increasingly helpful having these two Twitter accounts that I use regularly for different purposes!

What it’s telling me is this…

1. We show up on Twitter and elsewhere online in ways that we design or intend. Whether that intention or design is apparent or is actually what others perceive is a really good inquiry.
2. Over time and with enough data I think we can derive a view of how we are turning up using sentiment analysis and tools such as Personality Insights. We can also just ask people for feedback on how they are experiencing us online (I’ve done this usefully by the way).
3. How we turn up online isn’t necessarily who we are but it is representative of how we are in that space. I suspect more often than not “how we are” is also a good part of “who we are”.

The data from this Personality Insights tool is interesting. As always, it’s not “gospel” but I’m interested in what I can take from it that will inform me and help me understand how I might want to develop.

I’m going through my own analysis and thinking. I’m challenging myself on perhaps how I don’t show up online that perhaps I might want to or even expect to. I’m quite interested in others views and opinions on the data about me so I’m sharing it and asking for insight.

There are uses for this tool in the work that I do especially with leaders who are increasingly using Twitter. How we turn up online (or don’t) should be an important inquiry for any leader. I don’t think that the world of leadership development has been inquiring well in this regard.

So, if you made that inquiry yourself what might it tell you?