Catfished

Nicky Daniels

Catfishing someone is a new “trend” that seems to be spreading like wildfire.  Many people have heard about this new-ish phenomenon, whether it has been from watching the show on MTV called “Catfish” or if it is someone they know who has been cat fished or has cat fished someone else.  In an article written by Krystal Costa, 54% of online daters have felt that someone has presented false information in order to make themselves seem more attractive to other users, or whatever their motive was. 
Online dating is something that a lot of people are starting to do because they think that it is easier for them to meet people with common interests and talk to them.  Now I myself have never been cat fished I do know someone who has been.  Similar to the episode of catfish that we watched in class, my friend was also cat fished by someone who she considered a close friend.  In contrast to the episode we watched in class though, this “friend” did it for the laughs. 

                It started off as someone who my friend thought she could just talk to and be friends with.  That slowly turned into a relationship that progressively got more and more intimate.  Although, my friend was skeptical of this relationship because she had never met the person she was talking to, she continued to communicate with them.  The girl that was doing all the catfishing previously got kicked out of her former school for doing the exact same thing. When they would have phone calls this girl got her cousin to talk on the phone and she had found pictures of the guy online.  Every time my friend wanted meet this guy he was always busy or his car had broken down so he could not drive to see her.  There was always an excuse involved when they tried to meet.  Eventually my friend figured out something was fishy, and called the girl out on what she was doing.  She denied everything but neither of us could find anything about this guy on the internet. 

                There are a lot of people who use the internet today and it is more than likely that people are not being completely honest with what they put online.  I do know a few people who have met their significant other online but I feel like it is not a very common thing to come by.  If I had to give advice to anyone who was talking to someone online, it would be to not trust everything that they are telling you and if they refuse to meet you or always have an excuse about meeting in person there is definitely something fishy going on.  

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/2014/04/25/catfishing-the-truth-about-deception-online/