Online Dating - Catfishing Edition

The male on the left is under the impression he is in communication with the lady he pictures in this thought bubble, but he is actually getting catfished by a catfish.

Catfishing refers to an action performed by someone that uses another person’s online identity as their own. These actions target other individuals, often causing harm and always feeding on deception. Some of the reasons one may be inclined to use a false online identity include but are not limited to low self-esteem, depression or anxiety, seeking revenge, monetary gain, exploring sexuality, and seeking out harassment. Although the concept of catfishing has long been a part of society, the term itself wasn't coined until 2010, when Nev Schulman released the film Catfish about his own experience being catfished. Schulman's experienced revolved around his relationship with a woman he met online and how he discovered that she was not in fact the person she identified herself as. Following its release, many people who had similar stories to Schulman seemed to identify with the film; this inspired Schulman to create a TV Show to share those stories.

Demographics

Catfishing can impact in certain communities more than others, whether this be in relation to race, gender, or sexual orientation. Additionally, some specific communities have relatively higher rates of catfishing than others.

As of 2021, Alaska has been identified as the state with the most catfishing reports. Right behind Alaska, Nevada, and Wisconsin (the most dangerous scamming state) are also recognized catfishing hotspots. On the contrary, states with relatively few instances of catfishing include Vermont, South Dakota, and Montana. When people report cases of catfishing where scams are involved, individual states calculate the amount lost and keep a running total of those values over the course of each year.

Branded, a data collection website, conducted their own research with their community members to determine how many of them had engaged in the act of catfishing. Their results showed that from a sample of size 16,827, about 1 in 5 people have impersonated someone else online to gain favor with others. From those same results, 25% of the men who participated in the poll admitted to catfishing versus 18% of the women. Branded's results also reveal that, in relation to race and ethnicity, 28% of people who identify as Asian, 23% of people who identify as Hispanic, and 20% of people who identify as African American use a social media identity that is not their own.

Catfish: TV Show started in 2012

In The Media

Catfish: The TV Show

The TV show Catfish stemmed from Nev Schulman's movie about his experience and relationship with a woman, "Angela," who falsified her online identity and in fact, turned out to be a married woman. Schulman is credited with coining the word "catfish," invented following a conversation with "Angela" and her husband. In that conversation, "Angela's" husband mentioned that codfish, when transported from Alaska to China, would often arrive tasteless, so he used catfish instead to ensure that the fish would remain nimble and arrive ready to eat. The catfish "keep you guessing, they keep you thinking, they keep you fresh. And I thank god for the catfish because we would be droll, boring and dull if we didn’t have somebody nipping at our fin."

Using his own movie as inspiration, Schulman created Catfish: The TV Show to share the stories of people who experienced similar situations to his own. Schulman was joined by Max Joseph, and the two went on to co-host seven seasons of Catfish together, traveling across the nation to discover whether someone’s lover was who they claimed to be or an impersonator. The show is currently on its eighth season with Schulman and Kamie Crawford as co-hosts.

On the show, Schulman and his team help individuals who suspect they're being catfished but lack certainty in their suspicions. Using his resources, Shulman researches the supposed catfisher and works with the show's guest to discover this person's true identity.

Catfishing on Dating/Networking Platforms

With the rise of online dating and social networking platforms such as Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, and Grindr, catfishers are in an optimal position to form relationships with others while using fake identities. The nature of these online platforms allows for virtually anybody to make a free account and to assume an identity other than their own with the intent of making themselves look more appealing to other users. Often, the safeguards in the account creation process are insufficient for these applications to ensure that someone isn't engaging in catfishing and/or using someone else’s photos or other personal information. The account creation process for these platforms is often as simple as entering an email address, name, age, and phone number, and from that point onwards, the user is given the benefit of the doubt.

In the realm of online dating, catfishing “involves falsely representing oneself to a potential romantic partner, without the intention of meeting in person.” From a study conducted at Georgia Tech University, one interviewee described his own experience being a target of catfishing on an online dating platform: “It was probably like a fake account or what they call a catfish [...] somebody posing to be someone else. [...] She was [a] really pretty girl and we had like a lot in common... [but] it was basically a joking profile, she was just fucking with people and wasting people's time...” As catfishing becomes “more prevalent,” some online dating platforms have implemented software to combat this “relatively new phenomenon.”

A depiction of how to use Tinder's Photo Verification feature

One attempt at safeguarding against catfishing and spam is Tinder’s Photo Verification feature, which was introduced in early 2020. This is an opt-in feature, and the way it works is that Tinder will prompt users to take a series of selfies for which they will need to assume certain poses. The selfies will then undergo a manual and automated review. If a user passes this review, they will receive a blue checkmark on their profile for other users to see. Bumble, another forum for online dating, has a similar offering on its platform. While there are no concrete sources focusing on this feature and the reduction of catfishing, the photo verification feature allows for reasonable affirmation that someone on Tinder is who they claim to be.

To Catch a Predator

In 2004, NBC launched a new show called To Catch a Predator hosted by Chris Hansen. To Catch a Predator was an American reality tv program that focused on catfishing predators into thinking they were talking to underage teen girls online. When a predator and an assumed minor planned to meet up, a sting operation was conducted and the predator was ultimately arrested. The show teamed up with the Perverted Justice Foundation - an organization fighting to combat pedophilia via online chat rooms. Adult members of the Perverted Justice Foundation often join chat rooms while acting as minors and work with law enforcement to find pedophiles.

Types of Catfishers

Within the realm of catfishing, there are various types of catfishes. Each one has different motives and agendas when they’re meeting an individual online.

Cyberbullies

Cyberbullying is often widespread amongst teenagers and even adults. Cyberbullies will create fake profiles online to share and spread information about a person they may or may not know. Their aim is to hurt, intimidate or harass the individual they’re targeting. . Bullying has always been prevalent within society, but the introduction of technology has heightened this prevalence and allowed bullying to occur on a larger scale. Depending on the offense, cyberbullies may face legal ramifications.

Revenge

Those who feel jealousy or anger towards another individual may use catfishing as means to “get back” at or “get revenge” on those who have wronged them. These catfishers will often create fake accounts and post pictures of their target without consent. This is typically intended to harm the target's reputation or to embarrass them. These catfishers can also use the accounts they create to lure and seduce their target, which can result in emotional damage for the target.

Insecurities

Some individuals may lack confidence in themselves when it comes to real life, and so they use the internet to gain the attention and recognition they may not receive otherwise. These catfishers may embody someone they wish to be instead of who they really are, all in the hopes of gaining the connections and respect they could potentially miss out on if they stuck to their true identities. In turn, this form of catfishing can help users' self-esteem and give them a glimpse into a life they may desire but lack the ability to create with their own reality.

Ethical Concerns

With the wide variety of social media applications that currently exist, people have a plethora of opportunities to interact with others however they choose. This brings about the possibility for one to interact with someone on one of these applications whose online presence is not their true self. In certain capacities, impersonating a professional can be illegal.

As catfishers take to online spaces looking for partners or friends, their actions often exploit other people’s anxieties, self-confidence (or lack thereof), and optimism. In early to mid-2020, as travel and gathering restrictions were enacted due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, attention was once again brought to the topic of catfishing . Due to social distancing and the largely remote nature of most interactions during the pandemic, the prospect of eventually having to meet up with someone they were communicating with online was not as much of a factor in deterring potential catfishers. That, along with the added stressors that quarantine, isolation, and fear of catching the virus bought on, people could be more susceptible to being a target of catfishing . According to a poll from the American Psychiatric Association released in October 2020, 62% of Americans reported feeling anxious, roughly a 30% uptick from the same poll conducted at the same time the year prior.

See Also

• Online Dating