April 2009 Please note that some links may have expired due to the ever-changing nature of the Internet. Let us know if you find anything unexpected or offensive so we can remove or change a link. Youthwork magazine and CCP ltd are not responsible for the content of external sites accessed from youthwork.co.uk Identity kit Not sure who you think you are? John Allan presents a clutch of websites that will identify your Jedi name, your family tartan and even the problems with your personality. You can blame the editor for this one. It was his voice I heard when I switched on the radio early one morning. He was talking about something dreadful he'd said about Gordon Ramsay, alienating Scots people, and he commented ruefully that he'd probably never get his own tartan now. I have good news for you, I thought. ‘Saunders’ is a name that must have Scottish connections, so you have a tartan already. A few seconds later, having popped ‘Saunders’ into a couple of search boxes, I had not only a result - McAlister, a particularly fetching tartan - but also a little history: the most famous thing our Editor's family ever did was to get the Campbells hopelessly drunk the night before Culloden. How reliable is this stuff? Perhaps not very, but I was more impressed than I anticipated. I cynically expected that any name you entered might get a result, since tartan manufacturers make their money by trying to convince people that, yes really, they do have a tiny micro-drop of Scottish blood somewhere in their veins. But searches for names like ‘Schmidt’, ‘Yamamoto’ and ‘Mbogwe’ were politely declined, and even my own illustrious name was accepted only cautiously by both Scotweb and Scotclan. Anyway, that started our editor thinking. What else can you find out about yourself on the Web? So I was despatched to see. Could I find my Jedi name, for example? Yes - there are several sites that will calculate it for you (although with slightly different results: am I All-Jo Susta, Alljo Sust, Johal Sust, or Alljo Stexe of the planet Solpadol?). What political party should I belong to? I could find only American sites for this one, but after filling in two surveys, I was identified by one as a Democrat and by the other as ‘far left-wing’. I didn't realise I was such an extremist. Testing for personality disorders was even more worrying. Apparently I have a high chance of an ‘avoidant’ disorder: I'm ‘characterized by extreme social anxiety’, I yearn for social relations yet feel unable to obtain them, and I'm ‘frequently depressed and have low self-confidence’. Hmmm, I felt quite good before I started this... A little less worrying, but fascinatingly informative, is the BBC Science and Nature test. It'll take you fifteen minutes but is well worth it. You'll learn things about your brain, your memory and your personality you never knew before. If you want more, try the BBC/Open University Body and Mind pages, where you'll find out why we remember some faces and not others, why appearance decides whether we trust someone, and even why we look the way we do. For real personal information about yourself (or others) try NetTrace, an Australian site which is a goldmine for private investigators, debt collectors, and anybody trying to track people down. You'll be staggered at how few seconds it takes to find a physicist in Queensland or a parole violator in Ohio. Much less serious (but still fun) are the test-yourself quizzes found in profusion on sites like Quizilla, SelectSmart and QuizFarm. Are you the perfect boyfriend? Deep down, are you a chav, an emo or a Goth? If you were at Hogwarts, which House would you be in? Teenagers love this kind of thing... Well, yes, you cry, and it's fun for you and the Laird of McAlister, but how do I use this stuff with a youth group? There could be lots of ways: sessions on identity, who I really am, and what the most important factors in my make-up are; choices and consequences; what other people can really know about you... Just use your imagination and the possibilities are immense. I’d like to point out that the results you get are based on incredibly limited information - the website knows no more about you than the answers you type in; but God's reading of your character and heart is based on perfect knowledge (1 Sam 16:7) so his verdict should be taken a little more seriously... Maybe that's why GoToQuiz assures me I'm ‘100% Welsh’ (check the Irish one here). The BBC's Welshometer gives me only 56%, but still wants me to print out a certificate proclaiming, ‘I'm Welsh I am’. My ancestors would turn in their graves. John Allan is based at Belmont Chapel, Exeter, UK, and is a regular contributor to Youthwork magazine. Back to main page