With evolving technology and access to an active increase usage from social media to online apps, a gateway and risk of being cat-fished on the Internet has also been unleashed. It is fundamentally important to realise the risks of catfishing/Catfished and such issues need to be discussed as they are prime in this day and age and can lead to serious predicaments.
Catfish essentially means using a false identity on the Internet, disguised or posing oneself to which they are not, creating false identities, deceiving, in particularly with online romances/dating/friendship.
The term 'Catfish' is derived from a US movie released in 2010, following the real life case of 'Nev Schulman' who formed an online relationship to what he presumed was an 'attractive young woman' which later turned out to be an over-sized 40-something, Mother and Wife, who had created a huge catalogue of online personas.
There are many dangers of catfishing especially the emotional damage it can cause. Catfishing is dangerous because it involves all the raw emotions associated with trust, friendship, love and relationships. The person who is the victim of the catfishing ploy is usually emotionally invested in the person that they believe is real. It can be emotionally devastating for the victim once it comes to surface that the person they thought they 'knew' does not exist or is not who they say they are.
Catfishing can also lead to personal and public embarrassment. While the level of embarrassment may not be as public as it was for someone famous like Manti Te’o, it is still enough to damage someone’s personal life, such as depression, distrust and may affect an oncoming genuine potential. The damage can often be magnified by the fragile state the individual is in. The repercussions of the emotional and psychological damage caused by catfishing can be severe and can lead to even hunger strikes and suicide.
Whilst this may appear to be all fun and games to begin with, it's an absolute shallow and foul thing to do.
Online engagement is fine, but if ever exceeds beyond then do not feel ashamed to run background checks, to see if the individual does exist or meet to mutual grounds of familiarisation. If the other continuously makes excuses then call it a time out and pull the plug. Your personal well being, safety and security is a priority above a mere conversation through a digital world.
Stay safe. Stay well.
Divergent.
