Do you tend to assume that the people that you talk to online are being honest in what they say?

“Online” is a broad term.

“On Fluther”, I tend to take people as though they are speaking honestly. There is nothing to be gained from being dishonest on Fluther, except possibly a cheap laugh, and those people are easy to spot.

I think people are being generally honest. :) Saying what they think is true, at least. (Unless they’re trolls, then I don’t listen to them.)

For the most part. I am a believer in human decency and integrity, usually I am not let down.

If Fluther was a dating site I’d be much more skeptical. lol

I am gullible. I believe and hope they are. Sometimes it does bite me in the butt. That can happen in real life too. though

I rightly or wrongly trust the same reason, sensibilities and intuition on the internet that I use in real life, to determine the integrity, reliability and honesty of people I encounter, though on the internet I am quite a bit more careful and circumspect than I am in real life, and I am pretty careful and circumspect in real life. Still, I depend on the the same senses online that I do in real life.

I trust the people to say what they mean and mean what they say.

Since I’m honest, I usually assume others are being honest, too.

I do.

After having my “online identity” stolen, I usually don’t trust most people.
Especially when people talk out of the side of their neck. It may be okay to be a bitch on the internet – but I sleep well at night knowing that this doesn’t go unpunished in the “real world”.

I believe that @lillycoyote has said it best, for me.

I’ll add that, for the most part, people on fluther have little reason to misrepresent themselves. By reading someone’s answers and comments, one can determine whether there is a sense of continuity about them.

I never assume anything ever. As for honesty online, well that’s usually self evident. Liars are usually extremely bad at their craft.

I agree with @ucme Bullshitters are quite obvious with their bravado, then there are the truly sincere posters that can provide descent reliable information but I also have found a lot of it disingenuous as well. I prefer bantering about the technical or political questions where almost everything is verifiable by real facts.

I usually feel that people are being honest. There’s little to be gained by lying on a site like this. I agree with the above responses in that it’s easy enough to spot the fantasizing fran’s

You’re all full of bullshit! giggles

@oh come on @lucillelucillelucille That was really was my grandmothers recipe for oatmeal meatloaf…just admit it was good!! Come on ADMIT IT!! ;)

I believe the vast majority of people on Fluther, give honest answers. some people attempt to give an answer to a question, when they have absolutely no knowledge of the subject. but, thats okay. we all learn from each other, in our own special way.

Yes, I trust people till proven otherwise. I believe in the good intention of people. In real life. And online.

@lucillelucillelucille How very dare you!!! I have a definite air of pigshitishness. A nostril flarer of an aroma that’s impossible to ignore. Hence the descriptive, porkie pies (lies) Squeal, grunt!

Yes, I do – do you think I shouldn’t?

@Cruiser &@ucme——oh,bullshit—;)

I do my best to give honest answers, and because I consider myself not much different and no more special than anyone else on Fluther, I assume ya’ll do, too.

@lucygoosey Yeah, i’m not not even highlited in red. Just an afterthought, harrumph!!

@ucme -There ya go! ;)

@lucillelucillelucille Ooh I appear to look a little flushed. Thanks (he says attempting to sound like he gives a stuff) ;¬}

I don’t think people lie. It’s kind of funny, because I do know that people lie about their gender, and they create a whole persona based on this other gender. I’m not sure why they do it, but I heard of one person who felt trapped by it after a while. She wanted to be herself, but she was stuck being a male online. She had no idea what would happen if she “came out,” so to speak.

I think the lying that goes on is mostly demographic lies. You might say you are a different age than you are, or a different gender or a different race. You would probably keep most of the rest of the details of your life the same, just altering them enough to match your demographic lie.

There is another kind of lying I can think of. That’s when people use anonymous identities in order to troll someone. But that kind of lying isn’t very serious, since there’s no attempt to build a persona. It’s a one and done kind of thing.

I suppose trolls might lie about opinions just to still things up. They might advocate an opinion they know would bother a lot of people. Or they might try to insult people for a view they happen to agree with.

I don’t know why anyone would lie about events, unless they were ashamed of things they’d done and didn’t want anyone online to know. In fact, I know some people in this category. It bothers me a bit when they state a public opinion that goes counter to a story they have told privately. Like when publicly they condemn some kind of behavior that they have engaged in.

I’m sure a lot of lying by omission happens. I’m guilty of that one.

Well, I started by saying I don’t think people lie and then I listed all kinds of lies that I’m pretty sure people do. But I still think that people don’t like, for the most part, because I don’t think any of the kind of lies I mentioned really hurt anyone—except for the ones involved in trolling.

@ucme -You do care! You do!You do! You do!
“Dont you?

@lucillelucillelucille You sound like the cowardly lion in Wizard of Oz, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do!! XD You are of course correct, Sweet Dreams are after all made of these. Who am I to disagree ;¬}

My super-ego and I don’t get along. My “self” projections have fault accurately portraying what my ego is thinking. So, I just let my Id do all the communicating.
Others? Innocent until proven guilty! In this case my Id is also the Judge and Jury.

I have no opinion and I just want to say this question is absolutely fabulous.

Most of what people say on the internet doesn’t affect my life so I really don’t care if they are being honest or not.

“Being honest” is not the same as “an honest mistake”.

Being honest implies that the one supplying the answer possesses the factual knowledge being requested and answers the question truthfully. I have pretty good instincts even in online communications but assumptions about the honesty of strangers is never wise.

An honest mistake is an error with no intentional deceit. The internet is rampant with misinformation posted by people who have supplied it believing it to be the truth. (That said, there’s no shortage of blantant lies and baseless rumors)

The moral of both being caution.