Lying on the Internet

Introduction

We may consider lying online from a communication functionality perspective as both a behavioral goal and a means of reaching certain goals. The purpose of lying is the intentional deception of our communication counterparts via electronic communication. This by itself presents a perfect means of manipulating information so that our counterpart creates a desirable presentation of ourselves. Since the self-presentation options available online are nowadays comparable with self-presentation options in real life, self-presentation is rapidly becoming an important part of the individual’s identity on the internet. In real life, people are viewed through the information observed by us (e.g. by observing their behavior) and through information the individual has given us. However, on the internet this more-or-less balanced relation dramatically shifts to the latter, i.e. intentionally provided information about an individual. In this perspective, the internet represents a world without the possibility of immediate verification of presented information. The only ways to detect lies seem to be inconsistencies or contradictory claims. The online environment offers individuals the option to present information in a relatively free way, with a high chance of persuading others that a provided self-presentation is real.