Always save "personality" to your desktop

Showing you my desktop is like lifting up my skirt, it's very personal but here it is:



How it correlates with who I am:

I'm very visually organized. Folders bug me because I need to see everything that's in them at once otherwise they don't exist. Whatever I am currently working on needs to be right in my face or I will forget about it and will get lost in the 298,045,234 inspirational image downloads I have. I bet most people would cringe at how messy it is but I get scared when things are too clean. I fiend pleasing aesthetic so I chose a favorite piece of art as my background and a color coordinated dock. The more technologically heavy programs and projects show I have computer skills.

I've noticed that more of my work-related stuff is on the right side, the images on the left. It might have something to do with how the brain processes information. I know that words seen in your right visual field is more easily processed by the left hemisphere. Left-brained people are right handed, like me, so it would make sense for me to naturally put files with titles on the right and the images on the left.

Never though you could learn so much about someone from a desktop huh? It may seem odd but because desktops are such personal spaces, it makes sense that they would make for an interesting analysis.

Out of curiosity, I asked a slew of friends to take screen shots of their desktop:






You should get an instant sense of personality just by taking a quick peak into their virtual world.


Things to note while viewing:

Media usage is there a DVD in or music/video downloads? It can show type of media usage.

Positioning of files what side are they on, are they in clusters? How do they organize? Rows, or grid lock could suggest a need for control.

Size and number of icons could big icons suggest a big ego... or an aid for the easily distracted?

Background image is it still on default? how personalized is it?

Titles of files & folders how descriptive are they?

Technological level what type of programs are on their doc?

This is of course up to interpretation but here are my hunches:

The more private keep files in folders, possibly in hopes of keeping their personal life under wraps and out of display.

Keeping the background image set on default could mean there is more of a detachment between the computer world and personal life, not a bad thing...at all.

The less organized and more laid back have less folders and more clutter because order is not necessarily a priority to them.

Columns and rows of neat folders could be related to a need for control and order.

Photos of themselves/others may suggest heavier social media usage, popularity and confidence.

Use of strictly descriptive and to-the-point titles, as opposed to irrelevant silly ones, may suggest seriousness and lack of humor.

What does your desktop say about you?


If you would like to help further my research, send a screen shot of your desktop to kfreedle@uoregon.edu.

Time line of my childhood awakening

the first time i was called weird i cried.
the second time i was called weird i didn't cry.
the third time i was called weird i was giving my sister scraggly Audry Hepburn bangs in the basement, she had a special party to go to.
the fourth time i was called weird i was wearing boy's light-up shoes and a Space Jam tall tee.
the fifth time i was called weird i was pooping in a bush at a yard sale and asked for toilet paper.
the sixth time i was called weird i was taking shots of soy sauce at lunch.
the seventh time i was called weird i was in the bathroom coloring my hair with magic markers.
the eight time i was called weird i was directing a film called "The Revenge of the Furby", i was the star.
the ninth time i was called weird i was talking to power ranger action figures that sat in my trees.
the tenth time i was called weird i was refusing to filter anything i said.
the eleventh time i was called weird i was in the principles office, 3 times a week.
the twelfth time i was called weird i was forging a referral, put it in a Christmas envelope and signed it, in my best (worst) handwriting, "mrs. freedle".
the thirteenth time i was called weird i was playing to much Nintendo and was way too good at it, for a girl.
the fourteenth time i was called weird i was making Barbie and Ken fly across the room into the link-n-log fort, naked.
the fifteenth time i was called weird i was showing my mother how to install computer software, i was 11.
the sixteenth time i was called weird i was finally kinda pretty and smart, at the same time.
the seventeenth time i was called weird i was practicing math problems, for fun.
the eighteenth time i was called weird i was caught writing homage to spellcheck, my mother and i are dyslexic as hell and can't spell worth beans.

once i reached the oh so charming age of puberty, i started feeling weird and stopped counting...

It's all true. I am different, but I would have never known unless they told me every day. Thank you normal kids, for making me so sure of myself.