Liars, damned liars and internet liars!

Day 1,582, 14:29 • Published in Croatia Croatia • by Arrlo

My friend Ice Killa aka Howly aka the Slovenian eRep philosopher recently spoke to me on IRC about morality. Although my morality is probably totally different to yours, or anyone else’s, for me things are usually very black and white. Thanks to a typical religious upbringing and stable family, as well as coming from a progressive and modern country, I’ve got a decent mish-mash code of morality, and I do my best to stick to it, in every area of my life.



But I’m also quite nice.



So when I see people in eRepublik exaggerating, or, to my mind, harmlessly pretending to be something they are obviously not, I sometimes let it slide. It’s not like I suspect there’s a ring of eRep sex offenders out there, or criminals extorting money from ordinary people. (People know what they’re doing when they’re buying gold. 😛)

However, if I observe these people’s tales become downright lies, and about things you shouldn’t be dishonest about, I think it’s utterly immoral not to do anything.

I don’t know if many of you have noticed, but on the internet, people often lie. Many, many people project a different image of themselves, and sometimes they create a totally new character for themselves. For example, the phrase “there are no women on the internet” didn’t just write itself. It draws on the sad truth that a large number of men pretend to be women, for whatever reason. Sometimes it’s a jackass English guy calling himself Margaret.



But sometimes it’s a deeper, more insidious lie.

If you’re not completely stupid, you will have noticed that “women” in this game often receive special attentions. It’s normal for heterosexual men to treat women in a certain way, and even over the faceless internet there is some level of flirtation in people’s interactions. I have friends in eRepublik who tell me they are female and I believe them. They tend not to be over the top impersonations of women; they tend to be normal rather than princess-like characters. And I’ve got bad news for drooling, horny teenage boys: not a single one of them is a supermodel. Attractive? Sure! But in a normal looking way, the same way most of us guys are not Brad Pitts or Johnny Depps.

What are you going on about you idiot?

Well, I suspect some players of posing as women. I suspect at least one of these posers has been weaving a sordid web of deceit since Day 1 of “her” eRepublik experience. I don’t want to attack this individual, but I do want to share some logic with people so they can make their own minds up about each “person” they meet on this website. Some of the claims this person has made have crossed a line for me, and I’ve witnessed other eRepublik characters doing the same. I think it’s vile and horrible behaviour to feign illness for sympathy, whether mental or physical (or both in this case). The dishonest people might not care a jot for the feelings of “internet people”, but for some reason, some naïve, vulnerable people do. So here is a quick list of patterns of behaviour to help you spot internet liars:

Being too open.


I'm so trusting and open!

This is an internet website- normal people don’t rush in to any sort of relationship in real life, why would it be different online? You keep a lot of information to yourself because you’re a real person, so watch for people who seem too ready to divulge aspects of their real life which you probably wouldn’t share.

Being too hot.


"OK now I'll just upgrade my training centre"...

I am the only supermodel on eRepublik, as anyone who has seen my face can attest. If someone shares a picture of themselves, and you think “WOW, they’re stunning…it’s too good to be true”, I’m afraid it almost certainly is. You can examine the photo yourself—does it look like a real person’s photo? Or does it look arranged, staged and like it could quite easily have been copied+pasted from a random source? There are ways to check, I'd be happy to help anyone.

Being too UNLUCKY.


Big points to fans of Fast Show 🙂

This is a big one. Does this person’s life seem to be a series of tragic events which you’re expected to pity them for? And don’t forget that often this person will pretend not to want pity, but if that were the case, why bring it up at all? Stop and think for a moment. If something really awful happened to you, would you race to a computer to have an Oprah moment on an internet chat program with people you’ve never met? If you were suffering from a terminal disease with a few months to live, would you spend your time on IRC or Facebook chat with strangers in a different country? Give me a break…

Being too internet-y.


Only socialise with Farmville players?

I mentioned Facebook, and sometimes people will go to extreme lengths to add credibility to their character. If this person adds you on Facebook (be careful, you morons), take a look at their profile. Are there many people there whom your internet friend knows from real life? Family, colleagues? Or are the vast majority of people connected to this character “internet friends”, who, like you, have never met your “friend” IRL? This person might claim to go to a college. Have you been to university? Think how many friends and random “freshers” that you met in real life added you- does this person have any of that? In the case of the big fat internet liar, the answer is almost uniformly no. It’s a dead giveaway.

There are lots of great people in this community. Play the game with them and enjoy it. If you want to let links with them grow into some kind of internet friendship, that's great! But be wary of people who are shameless liars, looking for attention or for some other ulterior motive. You're not going to be able to give them the help they clearly need.

Just keep your wits about you.

Love from your imaginary internet companion,
-Thatcher