New York Times Technology The New York Times
August 23, 2001

ONLINE DIARY

By PAMELA LiCALZI O'CONNELL


Getting to Know Me

I went on a mission of self-discovery at SelectSmart.com and found out the following: my favorite metaphysical philosopher is Kant, I should have gone to a women's college, and the character I am most like from "Little House on the Prairie" is Pa.

SelectSmart offers hundreds of "selectors," or multiple-choice surveys designed to aid in decision-making. For example, the dog selector can help you narrow down which breeds best suit you. The site's most popular selector matches you with the religion that best reflects your beliefs based on your answers to 20 questions.

SelectSmart develops product selectors for businesses that use them to help customers with decisions like choosing which car to buy. But most of the selectors on the site were created by enthusiasts, hobbyists and other users with personal home pages, by using a free template provided by SelectSmart. Those selectors may seem less reliable, but they're a lot more fun.