Something funny happens to people when you stick a computer in front of them. They start lying. A lot. Sure, you already knew that you can't believe everything you read on internet forums, web sites, or even Wikipedia. But researchers at Rutgers and DePaul University now have scientific proof that people are more likely to lie when communicating via email than they are when writing things down with pen and paper.

The researchers basically told test subjects that they had some money which they could share with another person who they did not know. When the subjects sent out an email to the third party to explain the situation, they lied about the amount of money to be divvied up 92% of the time. Students who wrote a note on a piece of paper lied too, but only 64% of the time.

The moral of this story? Don't believe everything your boss, coworker, or loved one says to you in an email. Or don't trust everything researchers say. After all, we found out about this study on the internet, didn't we?

What do you think? Does the impersonal nature of computing make it easier/more appealing to lie than face to face or handwritten communication?