There's been a lot of talk lately about people posing as someone else online, or "Catfishing," thanks to the MTV series and the bizarre case of football player Manti Te'o falling for his friend's elaborate "fake girlfriend" ruse. The term comes from the movie Catfish (now a TV series) which featured a man slowly discovering that the girl he was talking to online was not what she seemed. Now, it's a catch-all phrase to describe tricking someone online into thinking you're someone else.
It's interesting how this is all of a sudden a phenomenon, since it seems like it's actually harder to lie about who you are online these days. All of our social networks -- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. -- encourage you to share the minutia of YOUR life and pride themselves on collecting and compiling your personal data. Heck, most people have a detailed Google profile that comes up once you Google them. We've come pretty far from the days of late '90s AOL chatrooms where the only method of communicating with someone online was by signing up as SeinfeldLover281 and chatting in the sitcom room or posting anonymously on a message board. If you have some suspicion that the guy (or gal) you're communicating with online isn't who they say they are, it's pretty easy to type their name into the magic Google box and see what comes up. But people are still fooled every day by fake dating profiles, fake Facebook pages, fake Twitter accounts, etc.
So, I'm wondering...have you ever been "catfished"? Have you ever thought you were talking to a cute guy only to discover he was that b-word Rebecca from social studies class playing a cruel trick on you? Or have you ever "catfished" somebody by pretending to be someone else online? (Come on, you can admit it. You've got anonymity on your side.) Have you ever posed as another woman to see if your boyfriend would cheat, as one of our readers once did? What about lying on your dating profile? Is that harmless or the same as "catfishing"? Let us know in the comments.
RELATED LINKS
Studies show everyone lies on their dating profile
I posed as another woman online...and now my boyfriend is in love with her!
It's interesting how this is all of a sudden a phenomenon, since it seems like it's actually harder to lie about who you are online these days. All of our social networks -- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. -- encourage you to share the minutia of YOUR life and pride themselves on collecting and compiling your personal data. Heck, most people have a detailed Google profile that comes up once you Google them. We've come pretty far from the days of late '90s AOL chatrooms where the only method of communicating with someone online was by signing up as SeinfeldLover281 and chatting in the sitcom room or posting anonymously on a message board. If you have some suspicion that the guy (or gal) you're communicating with online isn't who they say they are, it's pretty easy to type their name into the magic Google box and see what comes up. But people are still fooled every day by fake dating profiles, fake Facebook pages, fake Twitter accounts, etc.
So, I'm wondering...have you ever been "catfished"? Have you ever thought you were talking to a cute guy only to discover he was that b-word Rebecca from social studies class playing a cruel trick on you? Or have you ever "catfished" somebody by pretending to be someone else online? (Come on, you can admit it. You've got anonymity on your side.) Have you ever posed as another woman to see if your boyfriend would cheat, as one of our readers once did? What about lying on your dating profile? Is that harmless or the same as "catfishing"? Let us know in the comments.
RELATED LINKS
Studies show everyone lies on their dating profile
I posed as another woman online...and now my boyfriend is in love with her!
I suppose I was catfished once. This guy I had met in college started facebook chatting me. We would chat for awhile each day. Then I forget how, I found out that it was his friend playing a trick on him. I felt humiliated. I think its ok to lie about little things on your dating profile but not too much. You don't want to be a completely different person when you meet up and the goal is to meet in person.
I think its ok to lie... It's NEVER ok to lie. Period.
Try reading, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.