Is this Love? A Study of Deception in Online Romance in Nigeria

This work is a study of the interplay of online romance and deception among the users of social networking sites (SNS) in Nigeria, with a focus on how to avoid fake Internet love. The Interpersonal Deception theory underpinned the work while 369 copies of questionnaire were administered online to a sample drawn from a list of friends of four individual Facebook accounts, totaling 8763 participants. Findings exposed the prevalence of online romance deception and showed that users relied on a number of cues to detect deception, including verification from online friends. Inconsistencies during interactions have proved to be a good way of detecting fake lovers but it appears face-to-face meetings still hold the ace for genuine love

Digital Deception in the Online Dating Space: A Study of Tinder

As technology continues to impart its worldview, the role of communication in the navigation of dating in online spaces has also evolved. This study examines the relationship between communication and digital deception within a selected population of Tinder users. Tinder is a geo-social, location-aware dating application that is used by millions of people around the world. There are three fundamentally specific objectives of this research, which include: first, examining the ways in which dating apps increase the possibility of digital deception; second, exploring ways in which Tinder\u27s design and functionality contribute to the occurrence of digital deception; and finally, identifying and examining the impacts of online deception, particularly in the context of dating apps, on human communication and relationship formation. To obtain first-hand perceptions of online representation and digital deception on Tinder (and as with other online social platforms), 51 Tinder users from Nigeria and Canada were surveyed through their responses to a questionnaire distributed on June 20 and July 11, 2023. The findings of this study suggest that the use of dating apps among youths has increased, leading to prevalent lying and distrust. In the context of using Tinder among the sampled population, Tinder\u27s design, functionality, and online communication in general facilitate and contribute to instances of digital deception, as its affordances only give room to do little, hence, there is often an attempt to ‘put best foot forward’ and the tendency of lying becomes imminent. Appearance influences deception, but some still trust online dating for meaningful connections; platforms should promote honesty

Computer-Mediated Deception: Collective Language-action Cues as Stigmergic Signals for Computational Intelligence

Collective intelligence is easily observable in group-based or interpersonal pairwise interaction, and is enabled by environment-mediated stigmertic signals. Based on innate ability, human sensors not only sense and coordinate, but also tend to solve problems through these signals. This paper argues the efficacy of computational intelligence for adopting the collective language-action cues of human intelligence as stigmertic signals to differentiate deception. A study was conducted in synchronous computer-mediated communication environment with a dataset collected from 2014 to 2015. An online game was developed to examine the accuracy of certain language-action cues (signs), deceptive actors (agents) during pairwise interaction (environment). The result of a logistic regression analysis demonstrates the computational efficacy of collective language-action cues in differentiating and sensing deception in spontaneous communication. This study contributes to the computational modeling in adapting human intelligence as a base to attribute computer-mediated deception

Gender and Modification of Self-Traits in Online Dating: The Impact of Anonymity, Social Desirability, and Self-Monitoring

Modification of self-traits is defined as a user\u27s modification of his or her physical self-description between real life and online dating profiles. Personality traits may impact this modification in online dating. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of gender and modification of self-traits on measures of anonymity, social desirability, and self-monitoring to identify factors that contributed to deception in online dating. The theoretical framework used in this study was Paulhus\u27 social desirability model to explain changes in social interactions with the inclusion of anonymity and the desire to be perceived in a favorable light. The research questions concerned the differences in anonymity, social desirability, and self-monitoring between men and women, and the differences in anonymity, social desirability, and self-monitoring between high- and low-level modified self-traits. Archival data of 80 participants were obtained from a 2008 study conducted by Toma, Hancock, and Ellison. A factorial MANOVA was employed to determine the significance of gender and level of modified self-traits on anonymity, social desirability, and self-monitoring. Nonsignificance was found in anonymity, social desirability, and self-monitoring between gender and high- and low-level modified self-traits. Educators could benefit from the result of this study by informing new online daters of the existing digital landscape to include risky and questionable online dating conditions and predators. Likewise, law enforcement officers could benefit from this study by identifying and pursuing deceptive online daters who commit criminal acts or civil crimes against other online daters

It’s a Match: How Society’s Dependence on Efficient Technology Effects the Ways We Date

I want to make an established connection between our society’s growing reliance on technology use and the ways in which online dating have shaped dating culture. In a society where we all are so obsessed with instant gratifications, finding matches instantly can definitely be problematic. While many people have found matches on dating websites, I will argue that although online dating definitely does have its various benefits, that it overlooks important parts of the dating experience that can be essential for the growth of a healthy relationship. Dating profiles are made to make the single applicant appear as the best version of themselves, pictures and responses can often be tailored to present an altered image of themselves to the dating scene, which can be harmful when two individuals are trying to get to know each other. I also want to argue that online dating, while convenient, reduces people to mere categorical numbers and dehumanizes the dating experience

Dynamics of deceptive interactions in social networks

In this paper we examine the role of lies in human social relations by implementing some salient characteristics of deceptive interactions into an opinion formation model, so as to describe the dynamical behaviour of a social network more realistically. In this model we take into account such basic properties of social networks as the dynamics of the intensity of interactions, the influence of public opinion, and the fact that in every human interaction it might be convenient to deceive or withhold information depending on the instantaneous situation of each individual in the network. We find that lies shape the topology of social networks, especially the formation of tightly linked, small communities with loose connections between them. We also find that agents with a larger proportion of deceptive interactions are the ones that connect communities of different opinion, and in this sense they have substantial centrality in the network. We then discuss the consequences of these results for the social behaviour of humans and predict the changes that could arise due to a varying tolerance for lies in society.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures; Supplementary Information (3 pages, 1 figure

Against Marrying a Stranger Marital Matchmaking Technologies in Saudi Arabia

Websites and applications that match and connect individuals for romantic purposes are commonly used in the Western world. However, there have not been many previous investigations focusing on cultural factors that affect the adoption of similar technologies in religiously conservative non-Western cultures. In this study, we examine the socio-technical and cultural factors that influence the perceptions and use of matchmaking technologies in Saudi Arabia. We report the methods and findings of interviews with 18 Saudi nationals (nine males and nine females) with diverse demographics and backgrounds. We provide qualitatively generated insights into the major themes reported by our participants related to the common approaches to matchmaking, the current role of technology, and concerns regarding matchmaking technologies in this cultural con-text. We relate these themes to specific implications for designing marital matchmaking technologies in Saudi Arabia and we outline opportunities for future investigations.Comment: 11 pages, 1 table, DIS 201