真正“懂你”的社交网站

    ArchetypeMe的工作原理是怎样的呢？要想注册这个网站，首先要回答8道多项选择题，比如：“我的朋友在哪种情况下会首先想到我？A：需要时尚方面的建议；B：需要一个可以哭泣的肩膀；C：想了解全球大事。”又或：“我忍不住要：A：帮助人；B：祈祷；C：从与众不同的角度看问题。”在每个问题的10个选项中，用户最多可以选择3个答案。网站会由此了解用户的心理“原型”——可能是知心大姐，也可能是时尚狂人，抑或是睿智达人。每个性别都有10种可能的原型，每个原型都有属于自己的定制内容和社区页面，下个月还将加入电子商务的内容。

    通过这样简单的途径就能了解你的“真我”，听起来似乎太简单了。不过曼登豪称，在鉴定一个人的原型上，这个网站的准确率是85%。但ArchetypeMe公司花了好几个月的时间研究这些个性测试题背后的算法和科学依据。这些题目最开始是由卡利诺在一个性格评估专家的帮助下编写的，并且经过了直觉与原型学专家凯洛琳•梅丝以及一些行为心理学专家学者的审定。公司最后只敲定了8道题目和10个“原型”，以避免导致用户无所适从。对原型理论感兴趣的读者可以访问“Archepedia”网站。

    尽管这是一个由数学算法构建起来的网站，但它事实上并不死板。曼登豪称：“这不是一个一成不变的网站。”用户很容易就可以更改自己的“原型”。（心理学家荣格认为，人的“原型”在真实生活也是会改变的。）卡利诺坦承这些原型可能并不适用于每一个人。她还举了星座理论做例子，不过她补充道，“原型”是一种用来组织内容、简单而全球通用的语言。

    ArchetypeMe的另一个特征是它的内容。虽然Facebook、Twitter和YouTube等网站的内容都是由用户自己贡献的，打磨ArchetypeMe的基础架构却是基于一家媒体公司。这家公司的35名员工里有不少都是撰稿人、编辑和设计师出身，他们已经出版了20期叫做《每一天的我》（The Daily Me）的读物，也就是每个原型一份。Archetype的出版资源和视频资产也让网站增色不少。到目前为止，他们已经出版了一本由凯洛琳•梅丝撰写的著作。这本书共有244页，而且目前还在创作一部20集的网络电视剧，主角是CBS电视台《今晨》（This Morning）节目的主持人李•伍德拉夫。梅丝的书和这部网络剧都谈到了“原型”理论。

    ArchetypeMe的内容目前有70%是由网站自己制作的，曼登豪表示，这个比例以后可能会有所变化。这个网站的界面有点像另一个社交网站Pinterest，主要提供短小且易于分享的内容。它们大多是短帖，少有长篇文章，目标对象是各个不同的“原型”群体。比如对于“知心大姐”们，她们的页面上就有《奥巴马第一任期内的8个最佳拥抱》（The 8 Best Hugs of President Obama's First Term）、《给朋友的爱心食物》（Comfort Food for Friends）等网帖。有些帖子是专门谈“原型”的，比如《原型一览表》，还有些帖子给名人的“原型”进行了归类的，比如安妮•海瑟薇是时尚狂人、伽利略和哈里王子是反抗者等等。还有些帖子与“原型”毫无关系（比如有一个视频提供的是“超级碗”杯期间的聚会建议）。

    曼登豪与网站总编辑丽莎•嘉伯希望把《每一天的我》的内容做成更大的、具有认知度的产品，并且扩展到其它媒体平台。比如“时尚狂人”群组的《每一天的我》有一个每周专栏，取名“赤裸裸”（Bare Naked），由一位很有前途、但不愿透露真实姓名的外国时尚模特担任主笔。网站方面相信，这个专栏上的文章可以改编成一个很好的网络电视剧。用户也可以通过“我”和“你”两个按键发布、分享或把内容转载到其它网站。不过当用户发布或分享内容时，他们得先给内容划分一个“原型”，曼登豪表示这样可以形成一个数据点，最终帮助编辑对内容进行定制处理。

    这家网站对自己的市场潜力充满了信心，同时也相信它会更高效地把消费者和市场联系在一起。比如曼登豪表示，精神主义者可能喜欢蜡烛、薰香或是其它宗教仪式用品，时尚狂人更喜欢让他们自行设计时尚产品的营销活动。曼登豪有信心发起一场在线广告业革命。他认为，更加微妙的营销能改善现状——而现状就是“网站让我们同质化了。”那么曼登豪的原型是什么？毋庸多言，他属于梦想家型。（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

    How does ArchetypeMe work? Signing up for the site begins with a multiple choice, eight-question quiz. The test asks users to complete statements like I'm first on my friends' list for: Fashion advice; a shoulder to cry on; world news, and I can't stop: Helping; praying; seeing things differently. Users can select up to three of 10 possible responses per question. The site then reveals the user's archetype, which can range from Caregiver to Fashionista (a Gentleman if you're male) or Intellectual. There are 10 possible archetypes per gender, each of which comes with its own customized content and community page. Commerce will be added next month.

    That may sound too simple a means to get to the "real you," but Mendenhall claims the process is 85% accurate in identifying a person's primary type. ArchetypeMe spent months honing the math and science behind the quiz, which was developed by Carlino with the help of a personality assessment expert and vetted by medical intuitive and archectype scholar Caroline Myss as well as behavioral psychologists and quants. The company settled on just eight questions and 10 archetypal families to avoid overwhelming users. Those interested in archetypes can explore the site's "Archepedia."

    Despite being rooted in math, ArchetypeMe is not as rigid as it may sound -- "this is not a site about stereotypes," says Mendenhall -- and the site makes it quite easy for users to change archetype. (By Jung's teaching, archetypes change in real life too.) Carlino acknowledges that archetypes might not be for everyone. She likens them to astrology but adds that they're a simple and universal language to organize content.

    Content is another of ArchetypeMe's distinguishing characteristics. While Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube (GOOG) began as platforms for user-generated content, ArchetypeMe launched with the infrastructure of a media company. Among the start-up's 35 employees are writers, editors, and designers who publish 20 editions of the "The Daily Me" -- one for each archetype. Archetype's publishing and video production properties augment the site's offerings; so far they've published a 244-page book by Caroline Myss and are midway through production of a 20-webisode series featuring CBS This Morning's Lee Woodruff, both on the subject of archetypes.

    ArchetypeMe currently produces about 70% of its own content, a figure Mendenhall says could shift over time. The site has the looks of Pinterest and features content that is short, shareable -- posts rather than articles -- and targets the various archetypal groups. The Caregiver page, for example, features "The 8 Best Hugs of President Obama's First Term" and a post on "Comfort Food for Friends." Posts across the site range from archetype-specific -- "Alphabet of Archetypes" and celebrity archetyping posts: Anne Hathaway is a Fashionista; Galileo and Prince Harry are Rebels -- to those that are not at all (a goofy video offering Super Bowl party tips).

    Mendenhall and the site's editor-in-chief, Lisa Gabor, hope to spin-off content from the various Daily Me's into larger, recognizable franchises and onto other media platforms. For example, the Fashionista's Daily Me has a weekly column, 'Bare Naked' penned by an anonymous up-and-coming foreign fashion model that they believe could translate well to a scripted Web series. Users can also post and share content from the site or the wider Web through 'Me' (as in, "this is so me") and 'You' buttons; when they do, the user must first archetype the content, a step that Mendenhall says will be a data point that ultimately helps editors customize content.

    The company is not shy about the marketing potential of the site, or the happy more efficient union it could bring consumers and the marketplace. For example, Mendenhall says Spirituals are into candles, fragrances, and other products that evoke ritual; Fashionistas meanwhile are more responsive to marketing that allows them to style products themselves. Mendenhall has ambitions to revolutionize online advertising. He sees more nuanced marketing as an improvement over the status quo -- "sites homogenize you," he says. His lead archetype? Visionary, naturally.