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Thursday 16 February 2017

Research Questions

Blog Title: The Impact of Catfishing on Modern Society (United States and Canada)

Research Questions:
  •              What percentage of the population is involved in online dating, and how many of those accounts are fake? What percentage of the online dating population has been catfished?
  •       What can online websites do to minimize catfishing?
  •       Do we all portray a fake self to some degree online? Where is the line crossed to label this as catfishing?
  •       Is there legal action if someone is caught as a catfish?
  •            For what other reasons  do people make fake profiles?

As a group we decided to do our blog and research report on catfishing and the psychological effects. After research we have found that there are a significant number of sources containing data on the frequency of catfishing, its online presence and its overall impact on society. 

Are We All Catfish?

Everyone at some point or another has catfished, whether it’s deceiving an exciting life through our profile bios or using the wide range of filters on Snapchat. We use the anonymity of the internet to hide insecurities such as being overweight, acne and birth defects in order to fit in with society's idea of beauty. This form of catfishing isn’t to manipulate or scam but rather to appear more attractive or interesting to gain more popularity on social media; to look our Sunday best, have all the right angles, always on our “Good side” and constantly putting our best foot forward to portray our best self.
We edit our pictures using apps or filters to make ourselves look better and even “un-tag” ourselves from pictures that we believe we don’t look good in; but is this catfishing? We believe it is; it’s fit the definition of luring people in by means of a fake online profile. (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/catfish) Research shows more teens are using social media to use as a platform to quantify themselves, this is what leads to internet addiction. These people who catfish base their popularity off of the amount of followers they have and how many likes they receive on their pictures. They soon become addicted to the attention which can result in them finding new ways to catfish to keep increasing their popularity. [1]

7 in 10 girls have self esteem issues where they believe their performance in school, relationships and looks are not good enough.[2] Social media acts as a gateway to become someone better but also acts as influencer that creates these self esteem issues within teens. Teenage girls are reportedly “more afraid of gaining weight than getting cancer, losing their parents, or nuclear war.”[3] This is caused by many factors with false advertising being one, where photoshop is used to remove flaws creating an almost unrealistic image. The media is making young girls fear curves, their height, stretch marks and cellulite. This fear leads them to using their own catfishing techniques to become someone else, however, it’s not only false advertising that motivates them. People they know and friends as well who also edit their own profiles make them conform.

Even if unintentionally done, everyone seems to do some form of lying on online profiles; leaving out information about themselves, portraying a “perfect” life is simply deceiving and false. Although one may not want to admit it or have never really thought about it before, falsity on our online profiles is inevitable. While writing this blog, thinking about our own profiles, we realize that even we have performed some type of catfishing; editing our profile pictures to portray a false-self or editing our information to exclude unflattering characteristics. Therefore, we believe everyone does portray a fake self online to some degree. Where this crosses into catfishing is when you intentionally create a false profile using other people’s information or photographs to lure others into a relationship of some type, either romantically or friendly.







[1]  By Hakala, Kate, 2014 : We’re All Catfish: The Plight of Staying “IRL” in the Digital Age, Retrieved by:
http://www.nerve.com/books/were-all-catfish-the-plight-of-staying-irl-in-the-digital-age

[3]  By Vaynshteyn, Gina, 2014: Why Photoshop is More Deadly Than you Thought, Retrieved by: http://hellogiggles.com/photoshop-deadly-thought/

Fake Photos and Catfishing

Fashion Blogger admits to photoshopping her photos saying

I've been guilty in the past of using it to manipulate my body. Please remember to NEVER COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS, because NOT EVERYTHING U SEE IS REALITY. If you see someone with a flat stomach or flawless skin online or in a magazine, remember that's not how a body MUST look. Love yourself for who you are.”  

She wanted everyone to know things you see online isn’t always real, you can’t believe even the biggest stars. She posted pictures that she had photoshopped and compared it to the original photo, she wanted to raise awareness of all the unrealistic standards that are set due to photoshop and other photo-editing software.

I stopped manipulating my weight in photos with Photoshop about a year ago, so these photos are between 1-2 years old. But I just felt like I had lied to my readers and needed to come clean. I’d been wanting to do this post for a while, but had to wait until I was brave enough to do it."[1]

She hopes more people admit to photoshopping and are okay with showing their flaws because no one’s perfect.

This is an example of online peer pressure and conformity, where people believe they have to live up to unrealistic expectations synthesized by the media. Teens editing their own photos who want to live up to these expectations is one way of dealing with their insecurities. These false photos and ability to edit excessively has led to teens trying to edit their own lives and bodies to fit the unrealistic expectations created by changing their photos; teens have developed eating disorders, like bulimia, anorexia, and dysmorphia. A study was done by researchers who asked young girl questions about their popularity and academics, “the study suggests that the teen’s self-image is largely based on how she believes others see her,” said Jennifer Pfeifer, an assistant professor of psychology in Oregon. This is the supporting argument on how young teens are affected by the media and will do anything to get approval of others, even if the life they are portraying is completely false. This is a clear motivation for catfishing and supports the idea that everyone tries to portray a fake-self online to gain approval of others.[2]






[1]  By Huffington Post Canada, 2014: Fashion Blogger Admits To Photoshopping Images On Her Site, Retrieved by: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/08/15/blogger-admits-photoshop_n_5682692.html
[2]  By Timmons, Rachel : How the Modeling Industry Affects a Young Girl’s Perception, Retrieved by: https://rachelleet.wordpress.com/articles-and-news writing/how-the-modeling-industry-affects-a-young-girl%E2%80%99s-perception/


 

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