Some people have complained that it’s hard to get much information out of someone in 140 characters. It may also be more difficult to obtain the truth. A study has found (or confirmed, if you like) that individuals are more honest when dealing with each other face-to-face than when using Twitter.
We’ll admit that this behavior seems a little irrational; lying when the falsehood will survive online forever, depending on the fail whale’s mood, isn’t too smart. Still, researchers focusing on email have come to similar conclusions in the past, and in this case, the margin wasn’t very close.
Opinium Research polled 2,012 adults on behalf of Direct Line, and Direct Line stated afterward, "Just one in five people (20 per cent) profess to being more truthful on Twitter or text, compared to a third (31 per cent) who state that they are more frank when speaking to someone in the flesh."
Then, if you’re interested in a breakdown of the data, the statement continued, "[M]en are less likely to be honest via text than themselves (17 per cent of men compared to 21 per cent of women) . . . . [W]omen are less likely to be truthful in person than men, with 12 per cent more men claiming to be honest face to face than women."
Hopefully this research won’t cause marketers too much trouble when they attempt to use Twitter.
A hat tip goes to Robin Wauters, in any event.