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<DIV><SPAN class=519501116-19112002><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Angela,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=519501116-19112002><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=519501116-19112002><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Unfortunately, I don't have many good citations of research on lying. I
am sure others on this list do. </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
class=519501116-19112002><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>There's work on
play and performance of alternative identities online (see Brenda Danet's essay
in Steve Jones' Cybersociety 2.0 as an example, or Sherry Turkle's Life on the
Screen). I've seen other research (no cite off the top of my head, though) that
suggests few people actually engage in, for example, gender switching online.
Gender switching, one could argue, is not lying, but in essence the performance
online is one that is somehow different than is true to one's "nature" (whatever
that might be from moment to moment). So, while it is *possible* for people to
play and behave in ways different from how they might behave offline, there is a
real question regarding whether many people actually take advantage of the
textual environment online to behave differently.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=519501116-19112002><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=519501116-19112002><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>My own
research on why people talk politics online suggests that, at least for the
folks I interviewed, they felt more comfortable expressing their true opinions.
Because of the online environment, they felt less inhibited to express their
real thoughts on political matters, even when others found those opinions to be
racist, xenophobic, etc. In other words, they felt less likely to hide their
true opinions when debating online than if they were debating offline. Now, this
is reported behavior, so people hypothetically could be lying to me, but I don't
think so. For one, their statements came spontaneously out of general questions
about why they like participating on their chosen discussion space. And,
second, a number of my interviewees made similar claims. They can't all be
lying to me :-).</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=519501116-19112002><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=519501116-19112002><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Now,
in this case I'm interested in lying or at least not revealing one's true
opinion online in an argumentation sense, and not whether they are masquerading
some alternative identity. Which raises the question of in which sense of lying
do you mean, performing alternative identities, or arguing something that is an
untruth or against what one genuinely believes? </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=519501116-19112002><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=519501116-19112002><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>~Jenny
Stromer-Galley</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=519501116-19112002><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><!-- Converted from text/plain format -->
<P><FONT size=2>Assistant Professor<BR>Department of Communication, SS
340<BR>University at Albany, SUNY<BR>1400 Washington Avenue<BR>Albany, NY
12222<BR>jstromer@albany.edu<BR>518-442-4879</FONT>
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