No, not that fishing.
“You should do a blog post on Catfishing”
You know what I say – my readers ask, they shall receive!
I must admit, I still watch Teen Mom. Right now the current season
is on Monday night at 10:00 p.m. est. Frankly, there is nothing else I watch in
this time slot, so I’m typically multi-tasking while listening to Jenelle get
yelled at by her mom. A few weeks ago, I noticed that Teen Mom was followed by
a show called “Catfish.” After about two episodes, I was hooked. It took Brady
about three or four shows, but eventually he too was reeled in (editor's note: all puns fully intended).
The premise of the show is this:
· Hook, line, sinker: a young adult meets someone online, falls in love and wants to
meet them in person
·
Young adult contacts a man named Nev (the “host” of the show)
and asks Nev (who works for MTV) to help them meet their lover. Nev is to catfishing as Chris Hansen was to
sexual predators.
·
Nev and his film crew meet the young adult and get the scoop on
the love affair
·
Once Nev gathers the info, he and his team do some “research,”
report their findings to the young adult and typically contact the other person
to schedule a meeting between the lovers
Now this is where this story always gets interesting. I’d say
eight times out of 10, the person the young adult is in love with doesn't turn
out to be who they thought (i.e. scary creeper). Lesson learned: There are other reel (lol) fish in the sea.
Nev hosts this show because he too was catfished. He
thought he was talking to some smokeshow (hottie) from Michigan, when it was
really some mom with a fake profile. Nev’s whole story was featured in a
documentary that was filmed by his brother and debuted at Sundance a few years
ago.
The reason this whole “faux profile” thing is called “Catfishing”
is explained in Nev’s documentary. The husband of the lady that created the
fake profile said, “when live cod were shipped to Asia from North America, the
fish's inactivity in their tanks resulted in mushy flesh, but fishermen found
that putting catfish in the tanks with the cod kept them active. Vince feels
that people like Angela are "catfish", who keep other people active
in life” (via Wikipedia).
If I’ve learned all there is to be a parent from Teen Mom
(no, I’m not with child, Sorry Mom!), then I’ve learned all there is to be a
catfish expert from Nev.
If you are talking to someone that you met online, here
are some signs that they may not be real:
1.
They
won’t talk to you on the phone: In one episode some cute athlete guy
says that his online love can’t talk on the phone because she doesn’t have one…um,
it’s 2013. I know six-year-olds with mobile phones. Tell your crush to go out
and buy a $25 pre-paid phone from Walmart and call you. Also – pay phones still
exists for like $50. While I’m at it, can’t you ask your neighbor to borrow
their phone?
2.
They
won’t Skype with you: If they are talking to you on a computer, it’s
likely that computer is equipped with a camera. Ask the person to Skype with
you. If they say they don’t have a camera, suggest the local Apple store or
library. If they still keep saying no, ask them to send you pictures other than
the ones included in their profile. You see, most people that create faux
profiles only have a handful of pictures that they post.
3.
GOOGLE
THEM: This is so simple…Google the person. See what a search of their
name pulls. If they have a name like “Dave Smith,” type in some other things in
the search box like where he’s from, maybe his occupation, school info, etc. It’s
likely everyone has SOMETHING else about themselves online than just a Facebook
profile.
4.
Google
Image Search: This one is a bit more complicated, but once I show you
how it’s done, it’s simple. Remember how I said above to ask for more pictures
of the person? Well if they won’t give you any OR agree to any of the things
above, save their profile picture and run a Google image search. See my
step-by-step instructions below. Your search may turn up identical pictures
that may have been stolen from someone else’s profile. Yes, there are sick people
now that steal people’s Facebook pictures to make their own faux profile. Sick
world we live in!
·
Look at their friends (if the list is open). Are
they friends with relatives?
·
Read comments on their wall and photos. Who
comments on their photos?
·
Find out when the profile was created. Are they
new to Facebook? Are they friends with people from high school and/or college?
·
Ask them to talk about their family and job.
A lot of this seems like common sense, but if you watch
the show, it’s rather crazy how these things don’t occur to the young adult
that is in love!
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