One-quarter of single people believe it's OK to tell white lies while searching online for companionship.
That's according to a recent survey by Engage.com, a Web site where singles invite family and friends to play matchmaker. More than 600 single adults answered questions about manners and behavior:
24% said it's OK to tell white lies online. Of those surveyed, more men than women, 30 percent vs. 19 percent, think untruths are OK.
12% disliked the practice of retouching photos.
11% said it wasn't right to post outdated photos.
21% said income was the primary subject that singles said it is OK to fudge about in their online profiles.
16% said it's OK to lie about weight and body type, and 14 percent said lying about age was OK.
"I don't think it's the case that people who date online are rampant liars," said Sam Yagan, co-founder of OK Cupid, a free online dating service that he started in 2003 with two of his fellow Harvard classmates, Chris Coyne and Max Kohn.Yagan. "People tell white lies about whatever they can get away with."
Online, "people are often lying more about their physical appearance," Yagan said, adding that a woman might post "the one good picture" she took in the past year.
The most common complaint among people who date online is that people lie about that sensitive subject of age, Yagan said.
Joelle Kaufman, a vice president with Engage.com, said that both women and men who took the survey said that they feel pressure to present themselves as younger than they really are.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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