Lying Online

In my personal experiences with online dating, I've found that a select few singles lie about their height, weight, age, marital status (or other demographic information), but that in general most people are honest regarding who they are. Now, that isn't saying that people use photos on their online dating profiles that are truthful (or at the very least, recent). Still, I'd say no more than 10-15% of online daters purposely lie when describing themselves at an online dating site.

So it was interesting to me to read a recent survey undertaken by Jeff Hancock of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, who found that online daters were "lying strategically"; essentially fudging details that wouldn't make a huge difference in person, but could potentially skew a potential date more towards meeting them. Of the forty New Yorkers that Hancock's team weighed and measured, the average difference between stated demographic information and reality seemed almost insignificant: 6 lbs, 1/3 of an inch and 5 months. These differences, to me, could easily be explained away by constraints with the dating site's information (most don't measure height to more than an inch of difference or ten pounds in weight -- if they do at all). Even the "whoppers" weren't that big of a difference, such as 35lbs for weight and three inches for height. Mind you, the 11 year difference in age seems a bit much to me, but I can readily admit that a potential date lying about their age would upset me more than lying about their height or weight.

Forty people seemed like a very small sample to me though, so I want to ask you, the readers: Have you ever lied about your demographic information when filling out a profile at an online dating site? Choose as many options that apply to you, and feel free to add your comments or opinions on the matter.

_{Reference: Tall, dark and dishonest. New Scientist [serial online]. January 20, 2007;193(2587):21-21. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed August 28, 2008.}