The Different Species of the Online Catfish — Discussion
The internet provides a place where people can maintain anonymity. Being anonymous can range between fake names, accounts, and profile pictures. The anonymity that many people hold online can prove dangerous, as this is an excellent tool for online bullying, internet trolls, and predators. It can also cultivate relationships based on a fake persona by someone called a ‘catfish.’ Catfishing is a tool used for mainly online dating by creating a fake persona and pretending to be someone you’re not (Urban & Stroud, 2020). It is easy to become a victim of catfishing as the practice is becoming more common. I have experiences with close friends themselves getting catfished. The catfishing was so advanced that he even created videos of himself taking using a deep fake.
It is wrong to create a relationship based on catfishing. Developing a connection on an unstable foundation would eventually lead to it collapsing. However, the phenomenon that is catfishing must make you question why? Why would someone put a false version of themselves out there when attempting to date? People all have different reasons for becoming a catfish. A study conducted by Eric Vanman determined that 41% of people became catfishes because they are lonely (Vanmna, 2018). Struggling with social connections as well as self-esteem issues, are also reasons why some people start catfishing. The Netflix show The Circle shows us that not all catfishing is not done out of malice (Urban & Stroud, 2020. For example, when one of the contestants, Sean, decided to “catfish” people because she did not want people to judge her simply because she is plus-sized. While the world has become more accepting, for a person to feel like they can’t be their authentic self online because of the fear of being judged tells us that society still needs to grow. However, this does not make catfishing okay. As once said by Gilligan, “the ethics of care starts from the premise that as humans we are all inherently relational, responsive beings and our human condition is one of connectedness and interdependence” (Chave, 2019). When trust is broken, that person is no longer seen as reliable, dependable. Making it almost impossible to form a genuine connection when one or both people have lied about who they are.
A person’s motivation to become a catfish might not have any malice behind it, however the does not make it okay. Catfishing is morally wrong. It is not okay to waste someone’s time and effort when it can be placed elsewhere. Lying about who you and what you look like is deceitful. It would be hard to form a genuine relationship when it starts with a person being catfish, as it is not a solid foundation to start a relationship.
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Citations
Chave, S. (2019, March 28). Deep materialism and care-taking: A study of material relationships for the 21st Century. Retrieved from http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/deepmaterialism/2019/03/28/feminist-ethics-of-care-a-starting-point-ideas-from-carol-gillingan/
Urban, M., & Stroud, S. R. (2020, March 25). The Different Species of the Online Catfish. Retrieved from https://mediaethicsinitiative.org/2020/03/24/the-different-species-of-the-online-catfish/
Vanman, E. (2018, July 26). We asked catfish why they trick people online-its not about money. Retrieved from https://phys.org/news/2018-07-catfish-people-onlineit-money.html
