Butler lies from both sides

Abstract

In an always-connected world, managing one's unavailability for interaction with others can be as important and difficult as coordinating mutual availability. Prior studies have identified the butler lie, a linguistic strategy commonly used to manage unavailability, and examined message-level data to examine how message senders' use of butler lies varies across media and situations. This study is the first to examine how butler lies are perceived by those who receive them. Pairs of student participants provided messages sent to each other in real conversations and indicated whether these messages were deceptive or not. These messages were then passed to the partner, who indicated perceived deception and provided an explanation. Results suggest that participants expect butler lies regularly although not as often as they are actually produced, and participants are not very accurate in identifying butler lies. Moreover, detailed analysis of messages and explanations suggests that butler lies play a relational role that is expected by both parties in a dialog. AUTHOR

Too close to lie to you: investigating availability management on multiple communication tools across different social relationships

“…Birnholtz et al, 2010;Hancock et al, 2004). Certain scholars have considered availability management and butler lies as a collaborative act by considering senders' and receivers' perspectives (Smith et al, 2014;Reynolds et al, 2013;Birnholtz et al, 2013). Our study fills gaps in the literature on the practice of availability management and the usage of butler lies.…”

“…Certain scholars have considered availability management and butler lies as a collaborative act by considering senders' and receivers' perspectives (Smith et al. , 2014; Reynolds et al. , 2013; Birnholtz et al.…”

“…In mediated communication, copresence is a crucial indicator of whether one is available to communicate (Clark and Brennan, 1991). Mediated availability management refers to the strategic manipulation of the information regarding ones' online presence and availability status, which usually occurs when initiating, coordinating, or exiting a conversation (Reynolds et al. , 2013).…”

“…Thus, users may need to shift from coordinating availability and presence across temporal and spatial constraints to managing social inattention and ambiguous availability to avoid interruptions (Agarwal et al, 2022;Birnholtz et al, 2013;Sk ageby, 2012). This sociotechnical practice is called availability management, which refers to users' strategic manipulation of information regarding their online availability status, specifically regarding initiating, concluding, or coordinating mediated social interactions (Reynolds et al, 2013).…”

“…, 2013; Skågeby, 2012). This sociotechnical practice is called availability management, which refers to users' strategic manipulation of information regarding their online availability status, specifically regarding initiating, concluding, or coordinating mediated social interactions (Reynolds et al. , 2013).…”