An unverified study shows that people are much more likely to be honest in person than on social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
Telegraph is reporting that people find it easier to lie to one another on social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook than in person. According to a reported 2,000 person survey by Optimum Research for Direct Line insurance, only 20 percent of people said they were more honest when communicating on Twitter or through text messages. Almost one third claimed they were more honest when speaking to someone face-to-face. In 2008, a study showed that email was the least honest form of communication–oh how the tables have turned.
“Modern technologies, such as smartphones, social networking and instant messaging have been hailed as innovations in the way people interact, removing obstacles to conversation and allowing for openness of discourse,” said Glenn Wilson, a psychologist. “However, we sometimes use these means of communication rather than a face-to-face encounter or a full conversation when we want to be untruthful, as it is easier to fib to someone when we don’t have to deal with their reactions or control our own body language.”
While this study sounds true enough, we can’t actually verify its existence. It was supposedly conducted by Optimum Research–whose home page consists solely of one image and no links–for Direct Line insurance, but we find no mention of such a study on either site. However, if the story is fake, it does prove how easy it is to lie on the Internet…
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