The popularity of the social Web has grown recently along with the increasing amount of blogs, product reviews and other content being generated and shared online.

Research shows that not only are more and more people using the social Web, but they are doing so while on the go.

According to Nielsen Company research, in the U.S., 1.6 percent of all mobile subscribers, or 4.1 million, accessed social networks through their phones in December of 2007.

One company that is offering mobile social Web users a unique application for learning more about their personalities is Signal Patterns, a developer of psychology-based social Web applications.

The company’s new mobile “Personality” app available for Apple’s iPhone (News - Alert) and iTouch, lets people learn about, share and compare their personality traits with their friends and family while they’re one the go.

The application goes beyond just a fun game and is scientifically valid and developed by the company’s PhD researchers and scientists.

To help users learn more about their personality, the application uses a unique algorithm and scoring system based on the popular "Big Five" model, a framework for classifying personality traits.

 

Aside from learning more about their personalities, users are also able to find out the science and research involved with the application and learn more about the scientists involved right from the application screen.

Ran Zilca, CEO and co-founder of Signal Patterns said, “What's unique about our applications is that we've packaged years of research and science into friendly social Web applications, and now iPhone apps, that provide people access to professional-grade psychology tools."

I had a chance to try it out myself on Apple’s (News - Alert) iTouch recently. After answering a series of questions regarding how I see myself, and how I would act in certain situations, the results quickly appeared that I am most equally and strongly: passionate, aesthetic and understanding. The explanations provided for these outcomes say that I am in touch with my emotions, appreciate art, beauty and design and most likely am in a literary or artistic profession. It also reveals that I am someone who likes to get to the bottom of things and who is good at solving problems. These, and the other descriptions written out as part of my results were interestingly objective and very correct.

 

Aside from letting me know more about myself I can also add these results to my Facebook (News - Alert) or other social networking site to share with my friends and family and even discover like-minded people.

By helping people to find out more about themselves, and how they relate to the many other people on the Web, Signal Patterns application takes socializing online to a whole new level while also providing publishers, advertisers and social networks with an app that will help increase and keep users.

Stefania Viscusi is an assignment editor for TMCnet, covering VoIP, CRM, call center and wireless technologies. To read more of Stefania’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Stefania Viscusi