(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.tribute.ca/tribute_objects/images/movies/Catfish/Catfish.jpg
"Catfish [kat-fish], verb. To pretend to be someone you're
not online by posting false information, such as someone else's pictures, on
social media sites usually with the intention of getting someone to fall in
love with you "(Catfish).
Most of us have likely seen or heard about MTV's Catfish: The TV Show. The two main co-stars, Nev Schulman and Max Joseph, connect with people who have formed an online relationship with someone they've never met in person. They help investigate the significant other to see if they really are who they say they are. The moment of truth comes when the online lovers finally meet in person, revealing their true identity. More often than not, the hopeful partner is deceived and disappointed.
In this modern age where technology and social media seem to direct our social lives and relationships, it seems completely normal for people to meet and start a relationship online. In a perfect world, two people would meet online and represent themselves honestly in order to form a true relationship. The problem with that is people see that they can get away with being anyone they want.
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On Facebook, you provide your personal information, you upload your profile picture, and you have the ability to add almost anyone as a friend. This means you can portray yourself pretty much any way that you want to. What takes this deceptive situation even farther is when it becomes addicting. People who create these fake identities begin realizing that they can get away with it, finding some sort of thrill in it. "It is a joy that typically springs from their inability to achieve the depth of human connection in reality that they can achieve online," according to personal accounts of the scammers on the Catfish show (Peterson). Many of them have multiple false identities and many of them say they probably wouldn't have stopped had the television show not intervened.
With this knowledge, we should all take a step back and look at our online profiles. Do we know every one of our online "friends"? Are we being completely honest about who we are online? Catfishing is just as real of a dilemma as Internet addiction, and often, the two go hand in hand.
Sources
Catfish: the TV show. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.mtv.com/shows/catfish/series.jhtml
Peterson, H. (17 January, 2013). Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2264053/Catfishing-The-phenomenon-Internet-scammers-fabricate-online-identities-entire-social-circles-trick-people-romantic-relationships.html
