Catfish?

It is a fact that during long journeys the flesh of cod will become mushy if they don’t stay in constant motion. During the turn of the century it was discovered that catfish and cod are natural enemies. Catfish would be put into the same vat, to chase the cod, to keep them in motion. The constant movement keeps the cod’s flesh firm. The cod must stay aware to prevent being caught by the catfish. It could be said that catfish are used to keep the cod “on their toes”.

As new technology and social networking websites progress we must also stay aware or “on our toes”.  Social media sites have become an extremely popular way in which we communicate on both professional and personal levels. As time and technology moves forward new words and terms are often generated as a result. It is a fact that new words are generated and inducted into the dictionary on a regular basis. While some words come from different genres of music, or often times street slang, they also can be generated through social media. One such term Catfish, is defined, according to Webster’s dictionary, as person who assumes a false identity or personality on the Internet. To Catfish on social-networking websites is a way to deceive, manipulate, or swindle.

A Blog entry, by Jim Tobin, “Avoid Being Catfished: How to Spot a FakeLinkedin Profile with One Click”, on Ignite Social Media, speaks to the issue by giving explicit instruction on how to investigate questionable contacts. The author, Tobin, had a contact request, through Linkedin, by a young woman of whom he was suspicious. In his blog entry, Tobin goes into explicit detail of the steps he took to unravel the falsehood. His tutorial shows each of the steps which most anyone would be capable of following. A wealth of opportunity can be provided through the use of social media from making new friends or business contacts to acquiring the ability to weed out fakes and avoid being Catfished.

In 2010 there was a movie titled, Catfish, filmed in documentary style. It involved videotaping the budding relationship of a young man who thought that he was falling in love with a woman, a stranger, through social media, namely Facebook. Between the movie’s title and the dictionary’s definition of Catfish, it is safe to deduce that the young man’s love interest was not who he had believed her to be. He had been Catfished .The woman in question had created a completely false identity, her profile photo, interest, hobbies, family; everything about her was completely fabricated. Just as cod are kept alert by the presence of catfish we too must take precautions to avoid being caught by Catfish.