Introduction
Catfishing is a modern, online phenomenon that has become a household term; blossoming through social media, catfishing refers to individuals creating fake online identities in order to ‘lure’ others into relationships (Oxford Dictionary, 2014).
The term catfish originated from the MTV feature film under the same name; the film focuses on a photographer (Nev Schulman) building a rapport with a large family, specifically a young girl that paints Schulman’s work. Following this friendship, Schulman enters into a romantic relationship with the young girl’s 20-year-old sister only to eventually discover that he has actually been emotionally involved with a 40-year-old woman, with a multitude of profiles, creating an entire family with history and past relationships from the comfort of her computer. The film concludes with the husband of the accused recounting an anecdote of how fisherman transport cod from Alaska to China – the fish would arrive tasteless and limp; fish suppliers would put catfish in the tanks to keep the cod mobile and fresh – this relates to those who catfish in real life; they keep their victims on their toes, and keep them guessing (Catfish, 2010).
Social media has become a prominent part of everyday life, with 3 billion active social media users (Brandwatch, 2018) it is no surprise that online relationships have become extremely common. However, due to the increasing accessibility and ease of creating a social media profile, it allows individuals to portray an entirely new persona that can be far from the truth. Despite the coinage of the term ‘catfish’ seeming recent, it is a long standing aspect of online relationships – as dating websites such as Plenty of Fish, OKCupid and Match.com became prevalent, individuals have lied about their age, used old/outdated photos or even scammed others in order to gain financially – this leads to the investigation throughout this report; what motivates individuals to create fake profiles? How does this deception affect those who have fallen victim to their false significant others?
Having explored relevant literature in the field, I found there is a lack of research into the motivations and aftermath of catfishing experiences. It is clear that catfishing is a typical part of modern-day society, with tort law being extended to cover fake relationships (Kay, 2010): in current law, using someone else’s name or likeness can mean an individual is liable for misappropriation – by this token, with modern day catfishing experiences, it is even easier for someone to use somebody’s likeness. With the population being so active on their social media profiles, catfishes have an entire library of personal photographs, biographies of various experiences as well as insight to real-life relationships – because of this, individuals can ‘steal’ somebody’s identity, and create a whole new profile under somebody else’s likeness.
There is little research into the motivations behind catfishing, however there is research into the idea of ‘playing’ with identity through social media profiles (Israelashvili, 2012). The internet can be a valuable resource for exploring self-clarity; individuals can explore different sub-groups, different methods of communication and broadcasting their personal lives – this can be useful for development in young adults, however can also lead to young people creating fake profiles that go further than innocent exploration; it can lead to false relationships with malintent.
I have identified a clear gap within the research field of fake online profiles – there are little studies analysing the motivations and lasting effects of catfishing; what incentives are there to create a false online persona? What is the aftermath on both the victim and catfish perpetrator? One study investigated 27 individuals who self-identified as catfishes, in order to explore the reasons behind their fake profiles (Vanman, 2018). 41% of participants mentioned ‘loneliness’ as a reason behind their catfishing – more than 2/3 of participants referenced a ‘desire to escape’ their everyday lives; it provided almost a fantasy they could delve into whenever they wanted. Interestingly, 25% of participants’ catfishing stemmed from practical issues such as not being old enough to access social media – creating a fake profile with an appropriate age led to an entire fake persona being born.