Foo - Truth on Internet Forums

Do you expect people to tell the truth on internet forums?

Say you became friends with someone on a forum and you found out they weren't telling the truth online. Maybe they said they were unattached when they really had a SO, or they claim to have done races or rides when they really didn't.

Would it bother you or do you just chalk it up to the fact that people can be whoever they want to be on an internet forum?

"On the internet, nobody knows you are a dog"

I would not use the interwebs to date and under all the tom foolery and high jinx, I am who I am. I do not expect the same from anyone else.

I am a 6 ft billionaire with a really large feet, and a body of Adonis. Ladies I am single also!

Since by definition, cyber-friendships are as 'arms-length' as you can get, I wouldn't sweat it, just eeeeaasse back from that person a bit, and put less weight behind anything they say. Doesn't affect me at all, as my cyber-life is pretty well compartmented from my daily life.

I don't front, i don't lie; I do say things I wouldn't otherwise say, because in a face-to-face, it could get ugly, and I don't need to go to jail.

Truth? It will filter out from amongst the crap, or it won't. Pinning even an ounce of YOUR life to it, though, is foolish.

meh. I tend to tell the truth on an internet forum. after all who is going make up being mediocre. I expect some others to tell the truth from a similar reason, some to tell the truth when they can't think of an interesting lie and some to tell huge porkies all the time.

It wouldn't bother me too much, although depending on how badly they misrepresnted themselves, I wouldn't place too much reliance on their future posts.

Bother me? No. If I were entertaining any sort of relationship with said person, forget it. You can be pretty sure I'd ignore that person from the point I found out the truth. Character is important.

I don't lie on the interwebs, nor in person.

"On the internet, nobody knows you are a dog"

So those weren't really photos of you in the Men of Foo thread? :eek:

some people say things to have fun, that's fine... for some things. I doubt I'd get too involved in a friendship with someone who did that, and definitely not a relationship. Lying about relationship? red flag. Lying about bike races/rides on a bike forum? red flag.

I am a 6 ft billionaire with a really large feet, and a body of Adonis. Ladies I am single also!

Personally I prefer David, although you might not like the idea of being a magnet on every woman's fridge.

So what do you do if you find out someone lied on a forum? Is it worth exposing their lies or do you just let them keep lying and ignore them?

To me, it depends on the lie. rhetorical questions: Is someone else going to get hurt, possibly emotionally by it? or were they bragging about finishing that epic century in horrible conditions? you're the one with the info and you seem sensible. Go with your gut.

Expose them! Or let it go. It depends on how much effort they're worth now that you found what the truth is.

So those weren't really photos of you in the Men of Foo thread? :eek:

I like to think that I clean up well.

Expose them! Or let it go. It depends on how much effort they're worth now that you found what the truth is.

This!
I do have high expectations of others so I tell the truth just as I expect it to be told. It always bothers me when others are not honest.

I guess it depends on the nature of the lie and how much it harmed me or others. From my POV, if it harmed others on the forum, that would be grounds for a ban, for example, in an extreme enough situation. If there was a crime involved, fraud, etc, there would be other consequences.
So what do you do if you find out someone lied on a forum? Is it worth exposing their lies or do you just let them keep lying and ignore them?

Does this mean chipcom isn't really a playboy model?:twitchy:

I guess it depends on the nature of the lie and how much it harmed me or others. From my POV, if it harmed others on the forum, that would be grounds for a ban, for example, in an extreme enough situation. If there was a crime involved, fraud, etc, there would be other consequences.

I'd agree with this. It would depend on if anyone was going to be hurt by the lies and how much so.

Does this mean chipcom isn't really a playboy model?:twitchy:

Wait, I thought he was in the Village People!

So what do you do if you find out someone lied on a forum? Is it worth exposing their lies or do you just let them keep lying and ignore them?

Seriously though, I believe in being truthful in all of my dealings. Life is too short to make crap up to impress someone else. If someone lead me on, and I was emotionally invested, later to find out that it was all a lie? I'd probably try to wreck that persona. I'd expose him/her and try to make his/her life miserable enough that they have to find a new place to lie about themself.

And it wouldn't make a damn bit of difference to me in the long run, and likely I'd feel worse about the whole situation. I'd probably do it anyway.

Nuke 'em from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.



Lying about relationship? red flag. Lying about bike races/rides on a bike forum? red flag.

This. Lying is lying no matter what the communication medium is.

If the question is releationship-oriented then:

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/StupidlyBrave/Antics/maidensized.jpg

Do you expect people to tell the truth on internet forums?

I guess it's a bit naive, but I do expect the truth.

Spill it, I wanna know.

gossip party!

I guess it depends on the nature of the lie and how much it harmed me or others. From my POV, if it harmed others on the forum, that would be grounds for a ban, for example, in an extreme enough situation. If there was a crime involved, fraud, etc, there would be other consequences.

+1

I tell the truth about me, I don't expect it from anyone else, though. If I establish any sort of friendship with someone, I expect them to be honest.

Internet is a bit like a few bars that I use to go to, it's a place where most would go to get away from reality now and then. I guess I take forums on the surface, let some BS roll off, and enjoy it for the entertainment value. BS artists are everywhere in life, on the internet you just can't see the shifty eyes;)

I always expect that people are telling the truth, but it's probably not a good idea. As far as myself, I always tell the truth, but I do use it as a venue to say things that I wouldn't be comfortable saying to real people in my real life.

I never get emotionally involved with anything anyone says online, though, so to me it's ALL fluff. Except for Ruben's stuff; that stuff keeps me awake all day.

So those weren't really photos of you in the Men of Foo thread? :eek:

*woof*

I am always truthful and sincere, with the exception of my fake drunk posts (which usually occur after drinking, but are carefully edited to appear more drunk than I really am). I generally expect people to be truthful, but acknowledge that not everything I read on a forum will be real.

EVERYTHING I have ever posted in here has been a lie.

Since by definition, cyber-friendships are as 'arms-length' as you can get, I wouldn't sweat it, just eeeeaasse back from that person a bit, and put less weight behind anything they say. Doesn't affect me at all, as my cyber-life is pretty well compartmented from my daily life.


This is a pretty good answer. What constitutes a cyber friend? Someone you PM with about your life, or someone you trade banter with in threads? Or, going even further, someone you become friends with outside of the forum. I guess the nature of the friendship would determine how you'd handle it.

I have one person here that I PM with frequently, and I tell him more than I'd rather say publicly. But are we really "friends?" I'm not sure.

Just to give a funny one. I did some internet dating a long time ago. One of the first meetings was with someone who said she was carrying a few extra pounds (that was a check box choice). I had checked the same box. We were both telling the truth and we both went to our first meeting afraid that the other person might be thicker than they were tall. She was the one to mention the fear and relief first.

It was rather funny.

I tell the truth, I expect others to do the same, but I know some will not. I do not recall any circumstances where I eventually met someone who turned out to have lied. But I have sometimes found my images of others were way off.

Just my opinion, but I think I (and others here who have had good results) tend to find those who seem to be exagerating less suitable to correspond with and thsi may well contribure to my talking to those who do not flat out lie.

EVERYTHING I have ever posted in here has been a lie.

Even this post?

EVERYTHING I have ever posted in here has been a lie.

are you telling me that your bass was actually not a bass at all?

Even this post?no


are you telling me that your bass was actually not a bass at all?yes

Why anybody would look or consider and online friendship or realtionship real is silly. As far as lying about rides, people do it all the time online and in person. I know a guy that stands in front of me week after week and tells me he does a certain ride series year after year, 10 years total. I guess he's not smart enough to figure I'd look it up online in the posted results section.:D

if you read it on the internet, it's true

always

If the person you out to dinner with with isn't nice to the server, they aren't a nice person. You can probably wrap this around to lying on internet forums, and how much you should trust them in other aspects of life. Like everything it depends on the circumstances, but the general rule applies. I find the best judge of character is what people do when they think nobody is watching or when they are under lots of pressure.

If the person you out to dinner with with isn't nice to the server, they aren't a nice person.

I'm a nice person!:D


Lunch after a ride (not dinner), but I'm always nice to the servers.:p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af9U0BwkDh4

I would say most people on the net are the same people they are in real life. You may see a different aspect of the person on the net and if you met him in real life might not think they are consistent with the personality they display online, but after knowing them in person for a while you could probably see how the internet personality and real life personality mesh.

I have met several people in real life that I first met online, and they are pretty much as they described themselves on the net. If anything I think people are a bit more abrupt on the net.

There are those, tough, that go out of their way to deceive others. I think they are eventually found out, if only because it gets tough to maintain the false life they put forth. When it came to actually dating someone I met online, I would use extreme caution. (Then again, I was married before Al Gore invented the Intart00bs.)

The person I would most suspect of being something radically different than how she portrays herself online is hannahmontana; I think she might actually be a 53-year-old, male, balding, sociology professor at an east-coast university. :innocent:

Why anybody would look or consider and online friendship or realtionship real is silly.

Well, I've seen several marriages occur in real life as a result of people getting to know each other on forums like BF.

I always trust anyone online that uses smileys liberally. I hate them of course. But they are honest.

Its all ones and zeros.

Well, I've seen several marriages occur in real life as a result of people getting to know each other on forums like BF.

I've seen some where the woman leaves the guy. I won't name any forum sites:D

Hmm, I dunno, maybe relationships can be built online. I guess this woman needed a better riding partner.:p

Why anybody would look or consider and online friendship or realtionship real is silly. As far as lying about rides, people do it all the time online and in person. I know a guy that stands in front of me week after week and tells me he does a certain ride series year after year, 10 years total. I guess he's not smart enough to figure I'd look it up online in the posted results section.:D

Have you told him or just let him carry on and let him look like an ass? I don't think I'd confront.

I've seen some where the woman leaves the guy. I won't name any forum sites:D

According to Tom Stormcrowe, that's cuz the prior marriage was at an impasse.

That time I hung out in jsharr's basement was a lie.

I always trust anyone online that uses smileys liberally. I hate them of course. But they are honest.

I hear ya. That winking smiley does nothing to enhance a sarcastic or ironic post...

According to Tom Stormcrowe, that's cuz the prior marriage was at an impasse.


Let's keep P&R and Foo threads separate, please.