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Explanations for the Perpetration of and Reactions to Deception in a Virtual Community

The Open University, A.N.Joinson{at}open.ac.uk

Beth Dietz-Uhler

Miami University, uhlerbd{at}muohio.edu

Cases of identity deception on the Internet are not uncommon. Several cases of a revealed identity deception have been reported in the media. In this article, the authors examine a case of deception in an online community composed primarily of information technology professionals. In this case, an established community member(DF) invented a character(Nowheremom) whom he fell in love with and who was eventually killed in a tragic accident. When other members of the community eventually began to question Nowheremom’s actual identity, DF admitted that he invented her. The discussion board was flooded with reactions to DF’s revelation. The authors propose several explanations for the perpetration of identity deception, including psychiatric illness, identity play, and expressions of true self. They also analyze the reactions of community members and propose three related explanations (social identity, deviance, and norm violation) to account for their reactions. It is argued that virtual communities’ reactions to such threatening events provide invaluable clues for the study of group processes on the Internet.

Key Words: Internet • community • social processes • deception • deviance

Social Science Computer Review, Vol. 20, No. 3, 275-289 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/089443930202000305


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