Presented at ICA 2013 in London, UK on June 20, 2013 Smith, M.E., Birnholtz, J., Reynolds, L., Hancock, J. (2013). People, Place and Time: The Daily Rhythms of Deception in Interpersonal Text Messaging. Presented at ICA (International Communication Association Annual Conference) 2013. Full Paper: http://socialmedia.northwestern.edu/files/2013/04/android_ica2013_preprint.pdf

1. Northwestern
University
People, Place & Time
The Daily Rhythms of Deception in
Interpersonal Text Messaging
Cornell
University
ICA 2013
London, UK
Lindsay
Reynolds
Jeremy
Birnholtz
Jeff
Hancock
Madeline
Smith

2. 2
Butler Lies
• Often used to avoid social
interaction or explain a
communication failure
• Serve to maintain
relationships
• Depend on norms and
technological features
• Exploit ambiguities in
mediated communication

3. People
•Communication varies
by relationship types
and closeness
Agosto et al. 2012, Baym 2010
•Mixed findings about
who people lie most to
DePaulo & Kashy 1998, Cole 2001
•Butler lies told to
maintain relationships
Reynolds et al. 2011, Birnholtz et al. 2013
3

4. 4
Who are lies and butler lies in
text messaging told to?
Research Question 1

5. 5
Time
•Temporal context
affects perceptions
Goffman 1966
•Message timing can
effect relationships
Walther and Tidwell 1995
•People delay opening
and responding
Reynolds et al. 2011
"clock" by azmichelle on flickr

6. 6
When are lies and butler lies in
text messaging told?
Research Question 2

7. Place
•Context important for
interpreting messages
•Location sharing apps
increasingly popular
Zickuhr 2012
•Decreased ambiguity
threatens butler lying
Birnholtz et al. 2010, Reynolds et al. 2013
7

8. 8
How does location sharing affect
butler lying in text messaging?
Research Question 3

9. 9
Method: Butler Messaging App

10. Study Procedure
1. Pre-study online materials
• Online consent form
• Deception Tutorial
• Download and install app
2. Use app for one week
• Email reminder mid-week
3. Post-study questionnaire
• Message logs with questions
• Experience with app
• Uninstall and debrief
10

11. Data and Coding
•3,963 sent messages
•959 butler messages (24.2%)
•230 deceptive messages (5.8%)
•89 butler lies (2.2%)
11
see#you#at#7:15#
I"did"not"like"
her"shirt"

12. RQ1: Relationships
•F(4,560.7) = 31.48, p<.001
•More messages sent to romantic partners than all
other categories (p<.001)
12
0"
5"
10"
15"
20"
25"
30"
35"
Acquaintance" Friend" Family" Roman8c" Other"
Percent'of'Text'Messages'
Rela2onship'Types'
Mean'Number'of'Text'Messages'Sent'per'Recipient''

13. RQ1: Relationships & Lying
•F(4,566.3)=1.05, p=.380
•No significant differences in rates of lying by
relationship type
13
0"
3"
6"
9"
12"
15"
Acquaintance" Friend" Family" Roman:c" Other"
Percent'of'Text'Messages'
Rela2onship'Types'
Percent'Lies'per'Recipient''

14. RQ1: Relationships & Butler Lying
14
0"
2"
4"
6"
8"
10"
Acquaintance" Friend" Family" Roman9c" Other"
Percent'of'Text'Messages'
Rela2onship'Types'
Percent'Butler'Lies'per'Recipient''
•F(4,568.5)=1.44, p=.219
•No differences in butler lying rates by relationship
type

15. RQ2:Time & Lying
15

16. RQ2:Time & Butler Lying
16

17. RQ3: Locations & Butler Lying
17

18. RQ3: Locations & Butler Lying
18
•χ2(1, N=3340) = 6.83, p<.01
•Locations shared with butler lies less frequently
than with other messages

19. Summary of Results
•More text messages sent to romantic partner
than other types of contacts
•Failed to find difference and lying and butler lying
to different types of contacts
•Butler lies sent at times of social coordination
•Butler lies were sent without locations more
often than other messages
19

20. Discussion
•Context matters: people, place and time
•New technological features can impact behavior
•Need more detailed studies of text messaging
•Butler Messaging app
20

21. Limitations & Future Work
•Self-reports of deception
•Potential self-selection bias
•Modified app included unfamiliar features
•Student sample
21

22. 22
We thank Jon Culver, Daniel Haber, Jared Kass, Kate Pascucci, Weili Shi,
Mark Thomas and Jin Zhao for their valuable research assistance. Funding
was partially provided by NSF Grants IIS-0915081 and DGE-0824162.
People, Place & Time
The Daily Rhythms of Deception in Interpersonal Text Messaging
Lindsay
Reynolds
Jeremy
Birnholtz
Jeff
Hancock
Madeline
Smith
socialmedia.northwestern.edu sml.comm.cornell.edu