January 2008 Archives

I talked to Dr. Jamie Pennebaker midway through the contest to guess his personality, and his comment to me was "I must be very transparent." Indeed, no less than eight people scored in the "nearly perfect" range (r > .80), but the most perfect of all was Christian. Christian was among the earliest 10% to join YJGM. But having lots of time to practice is not the only reason for her acute interpersonal sensitivity: she also has degrees in law and journalism from the UT system and is a Director of Public Affairs. Knowing human nature is Christian's life, and when Dr. Pennebaker sends her a copy of his book Writing to Heal she will only broaden her skills. We at YJGM are proud to see Christian in one of our tshirts. If you know anyone for next month's contest, send suggestions to info@youjustgetme.com.

This is the last week of our YouJustGetMe survey. We want to know how you use the site and how you think we can improve it. Also, at the end of the survey you can volunteer to talk with us by phone about the site (usability testing). If you qualify you'll get a $25 Amazon gift certificate and 100 points on the site! Click here to take the survey.

Dr. Jamie Pennebaker, Psychology Chair at UT Austin and self-disclosure guru, has been a member of YouJustGetMe since way back in September. We at YJGM have been fans of Pennebaker's since he proved that Freud was right... um, since he showed that if you write or talk about your deepest thoughts for 20 minutes for 4 days, you improve your immune system! And get this - Pennebaker has now developed software to score your personality from your writing. Imagine what he could learn about you from your blog! So after much pleading (and at the insistence of his daughter who digs YJGM) Pennebaker agreed to be our next celebrity mystery. Guess him at: http://www.youjustgetme.com/Pennebaker . The best guesser as of midnight PST Saturday January 26th will get a YouJustGetMe t-shirt and a signed copy of Pennebaker's fascinating 2004 book Writing to Heal.