Friday, February 13, 2015

Catfishing: The Threat is Real

Article:

The advent of social media has given rise to many different phenomena. Many of them involve harmless uses, such as connecting with long separated friends or following organizations. However, not everything is always as it seems on these websites. Often times people can pretend to be someone that they are not for various reasons. This can result in very negative consequences. A specific example of this online trickery is catfishing. Catfishing is when someone pretends to be someone that they are not in order to solicit some form of romantic attention from another person. Although it seems easily preventable and just plain stupid, it is a real problem that could happen to many of us.

Catfishing was brought to attention in a 2012 movie "Catfish" MTV later created a series about it. However, it may not have taken off until it happened to a recognizable figure. In January 2013, reports surfaced that the girlfriend of Manti Te'o, one of the nation's best college football players, had not been dead as previously thought, but instead never existed. Then, television actor Thomas Gibson was catfished. NBA champion Chris Anderson was the next victim. The public all wondered how these people could be so dumb that they could not figure out that their girlfriends were fake. Even the popular TV show, "Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia" made fun of the victims of catfishing in one of its episodes. However, it is not always so simple. 

Catfishing schemes can be incredibly elaborate and convincing. Many of us are on our social media sites 24/7- it is not out of the question that people meet a romantic partner on one of them. If this person that you meet sends you a ton of photographs, talks to you on the phone with a voice that seemingly matches the photos (here is Teo's fake girlfriend's voice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af5X_A5TspE) , as well as reassures you with various other forms of media, really anyone could be fooled. Sure you would have never met the person in real life, but with all the familiarity through the photos and other sent items, you may be able to feel very in touch with the person. In this day and age, we depend more and more on our social networks for maintaining our relationships. Thus, the possibility for someone to exploit this fact through lying is very real. It is not always obvious when you are being catfished. 

The effects of catfishing can be highly damaging. There can be legal issues involved, such as the case with NBA player Chris Anderson. His lawyer described it as "Manti Teo's [situation] on steroids".  http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/sep/19/chris-birdman-andersen-catfish-hoax Chris was involved in charges of extortion and child pornography. Eventually, he was cleared, but only after having to go through the legal process. Not only do victims of catfishing waste their time on the fake person, they may also buy them gifts and waste their money. Catfishing can also be used to blackmail the victim. Finally, catfishing can damage the psyche of the victim. Many people are not incredibly secure in their identity. To have someone go online and pretend they love you, while in actuality they can have ulterior motives, can mess with the victims perception of themselves. 

Catfishing is more common than people think. Despite the public's contrary thoughts, it could really happen to almost anyone. Sometimes, the perpetrators can be incredibly convincing. These schemes could also have very negative effects such as legal issues, blackmail, and damage to the victim's identity. When meeting someone online, you have to be really careful to make sure that they are a real person. It is kind of sad that this statement needs to be said, but the necessity is definitely real. 


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