Public Release:  People who lie while texting take longer to respond

Also true for digital conversations on social media, instant messaging

Brigham Young University


IMAGE: BYU research found that people who lie in digital conversations take longer to respond and make more edits before they hit send. view more

Credit: Photo illustration by Jaren S. Wilkey/BYU Photo

Ever been trading a flurry of text messages when there's an awkward pause? Well, new research shows you probably should be suspicious.

A Brigham Young University study finds when people lie in digital messages - texting, social media or instant messaging - they take longer to respond, make more edits and write shorter responses than usual.


According to Meservy, humans can detect lies about 54 percent of the time accurately - not much better than a coin flip. It's even harder to tell when someone is lying through a digital message because you can't hear a voice or see an expression.


The researchers created a computer program that carried out online conversations with participants - similar to the experience consumers have with online customer service questions.






The researchers are furthering this line of research by using a variety of other sensors including Microsoft's Kinect to track human behavior and see how it connects with deception.

"We are just at the beginning of this," Jenkins said. "We need to collect a lot more data."


