We all communicate online these days, whether its via e-mail, social networking or some other means.
Connecting with others has raised a passel of issues, such as courtesy and privacy, many of which are covered under the evolving rules of netiquette.
But what of honesty? A new study in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology (see abstract) finds that people who communicate online lie more in those interactions than they do during face-to-face encounters.
The study had same-sex pairs of undergraduate students engage in 15-minute conversations using e-mail, instant messaging, or speaking face to face. Following this the students looked over transcripts of these interactions and marked down inaccuracies.
The most lies were in e-mail, followed by instant messaging, and lastly face-to-face talks.
The findings, conclude the Massachusetts psychologists who wrote the paper, suggest that it may be normal to distort reality online.
Found via Peer Reviewed by my Neurons.