Which [Insert Beloved Childhood Character Set Here] Are You?

You can't take 10 steps in the internet, it seems, without running into a poll promising it can tell you which Peanuts character, Smurf, or Beatle you are most like.

spiralshell 

recently sent Muppet version, and I wanted so badly to be Rowlf the Dog (a fact that

bgweil

, sitting next to me, instantly recognized). Instead, Scooter was the decision of the all-knowing quiz.  Relegated to gopher again. Go for this, go for that.  Anyway, it got me thinking...

When I was in high school trying to fill massive amounts of idle time with friends, we used to play this game pretty often. Same sets of characters as the current electronic versions. The major difference was that we would do it as part of discussion, noting the character traits that were most like our friends and adversaries. Personality, physical appearance, and salient history were all fair game. I could self-identify with Rowlf and provide my arguments for why I wasn't like Scooter. I play the piano, I give advice (sometimes unsolicited), I'm rather furry, etc.

The problem with the on-line versions is that you have no control over the algorithms used to make the "decisions."  What variables were used, how are values on those variables determined from answers to questions, and what is the mapping between values on those variables and the ultimate outcome? In the off-line versions, the participants in the conversation tacitly choose and weigh the variables based on perceived saliency; in the on-line versions, those choices are made for you and are mostly invisible. 

I like the off-line versions better.