Spot liars on Facebook, Tinder with online polygraph test

Is your Tinder date trustworthy? Scientists are developing an online polygraph that could spot liars from the words they write on their internet dating profiles, Facebook messages or Twitter posts.

It is tricky enough to identify a lie in face-to-face conversations that offer facial expressions, gestures and tone of voice because those physical cues add context.

Spotting a liar gets even tougher in blind computer conversations, said Shuyuan Ho from Florida State University in the US who wants to shed those blinders.

“The future of my research is an online polygraph that could be used many different ways,” Ho said in a statement.