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Women more deceitful on social media reveals fifth round of The Works’ Datafication study

Deceit infographic (1)Women have been found to be more deceitful on social media compared to men according to the latest social media study conducted by Sydney-based creative agency The Works and UTS University.

The Deceit Algorithm, truth, lies and brand trust in social media research found 64 per cent of women compared to 36 per cent of men were found to have made “embellished or deceitful statements” when posting on Twitter and Instagram.

However, while women overall were found to lie more often, on Instagram Adelaide men were found to be the biggest liars, followed by Sydney men. Adelaide women came in third place on the photo-and video sharing platform while Melbourne women were the least deceptive. 

The research is the fifth round of the Datafication project, which last year revealed Australian brands are “laggards” when it comes to utilising social video apps such as Vine and Snapchat.

Douglas Nicol, creative partner at The Works and leader of the Datafication project explained the words people use when posting to social media are indicators to their truthfulness or otherwise.

“If we use the pronouns ‘I’ or ‘me’ we are less likely to be by lying as we subconsciously distance ourselves from what we know to be a lie, but certain words and when they are used in combination with others, are a good indication of deceit,” he said.

“Marketers get hot and sweaty about building positive sentiment for their brand on social media, they want you to like and trust their brand but there is a real fear that they will get it wrong. By understanding why people are deceitful it can help when it comes to developing strategies to effectively communicate and respond to consumers that are engaging with brands through social media.”

The study looked at white lies or embellishment and true lies or deceit in social posts.

According to the study, Australian Twitter users are not being deceitful or telling true lies, however Perth women ranked first when it came to embellishing their posts, followed by Brisbane men, Adelaide women and Brisbane women.

“There are many reasons why we lie in social media. White lies are used to manage our own personal brand, to make a good story a great one, or stroke our own egos. However when it comes to truly lying the reasons are more sinister. People make false statements to gain privileges from brands they otherwise wouldn’t get, such as complaining about airlines, hotels or restaurants in order to be compensated, or to gain social power as well as trying to elevate their own importance,” Nicol said.

5 Leaders of Deceit on Instagram

  1. Adelaide Men
  2. Sydney Men
  3. Adelaide Women
  4. Melbourne Women
  5. Brisbane Men

5 Leaders of Embellishment on Twitter

  1. Perth Women
  2. Brisbane Men
  3. Adelaide Women
  4. Brisbane Women
  5. Melbourne Women
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