Men more likely to lie, post naked photos on social media

Men are more likely to lie on social media, or even post naked photos of themselves in order to gather more 'likes' as compared to their female counterparts, a new study has found.

People are turning to social media in order to show-off to friends, collect as many 'likes' as possible and to feel good about themselves. In this quest for social validation people are playing with the truth and whitewashing their lives.

The study from Kaspersky Lab in Russia shows that one-in-ten people would bend the truth on social media in order to get more people to like their posts.

The research also shows that in their pursuit of likes, nine per cent of men would post a photo of themselves naked compared to five per cent of women.

To attract attention and secure a significant number of likes, around one-in-ten people (12 per cent) pretend to be somewhere or doing something that might not be strictly true.

This rises to 14 per cent of men, suggesting that many would rather get social media attention than share a realistic portrayal of their lives. The study uncovers that men are sensitive about how many likes they get on social media and, in their hunt for likes, men are more probable than women to reveal something embarrassing or confidential about their co-workers, friends or employers.

Thus, 14 per cent of men said they would reveal something confidential about a co-worker (compared to seven per cent of women), 13 per cent are willing to post something confidential about their employer, and 12 per cent would reveal something embarrassing about a friend, compared with six per cent of women.

Men also get upset if they do not get the likes they hope for - 24 per cent worry that if few people like their posts, their friends will think they are unpopular, compared to 17 per cent of women.

Also, 29 per cent of men admitted that they get upset if somebody who matters to them does not like their posts. In the hunt for likes, men tend to go even further than women, posting things that present themselves and their friends in a compromising light, according to Astrid Carolus, Media Psychologist at the University of Wurzburg in Germany.

This is in line with the assumption of men being rather less focused on social harmony and rather more willing to take risks, Carolus said. About 15 per cent of men said they would post a photo of friends under the influence of alcohol compared to eight per cent of women, 12 per cent of men would post a photo of themselves wearing something revealing and nine per cent of men are even ready to post a photo of themselves naked compared to only five per cent of women.

"In their search for social approval, people have stopped seeing the boundary between what is okay to share, and what is better kept private," said Evgeny Chereshnev, Head of Social Media at Kaspersky Lab.