People are more willing to be dishonest online on sites such as Facebook and Twitter than they are face-to-face, according to a new survey.
The research, commissioned by Direct Line Insurance, suggests that people are more comfortable with being dishonest on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook than they are when speaking to someone face-to-face.
A survey of 2,012 people by Optimum Research found that just 20 per cent of people said they were more honest when communicating via Twitter or text messages, while almost a third said they were more frank when speaking to someone in the flesh.
“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.”