I had to look up catfishing:
Catfishing is a deceptive activity where a person creates a sockpuppet presence or fake identity on a social networking service, usually targeting a specific victim for abuse or fraud. Catfishing is often employed for romance scams on dating websites. The practice may be used for financial gain, to compromise a victim in some way, or simply as forms of trolling or wish fulfillment. Catfishing media has been produced, often centering around victims who wish to identify their catfisher. Celebrities have been targeted, which has brought media attention to catfishing practices...
Catfishing is used for multiple reasons. An internet user uses a fake identity to persuade another to believe they are the person they portray. This often is used for relationships, such as the scenario in the movie Catfish. The person catfishing usually uses another real person's photos and life facts to make them appear as a real person. Often, the real person who is being used for the fake identity does not even know that they are having their pictures and name used. They are not aware that their identity was used to create these fake relationships online. The person uses catfishing in order to appear as a better version of themselves by using a fake identity. Their primary reason to appear as a fake person is to befriend the other person for a relationship or other sexual reasons. It can also be used as a way to cyberbully someone online. By using a fake identity, it is easy for the person to get away with bullying on the internet. Since they are using another person's identity or a made up identity, the person will not get in trouble and will not have any consequences. The cyberbullying cannot be traced back to them, which is a big reason why they use a fake identity in the first place. This type of cyberbullying has increased the number of suicides in teens over the past few yearsSome relevant discussion at the Facepalm subreddit.
As if stupid sports metaphors weren't enough, you got abstruse expressions from poker and even professional wrestling. It's all very referential and non inclusive. Even still the purpose to create a feeling of an in-group belonging is clear, with this type of in-jokes and folksy "pop" references.
ReplyDeleteNot so with expressions like catfish. The only way the term cat-fishing makes any kind of sense, is for the fact that catfish swallow things (BS) whole, such as fake profiles.
All deception is created by pressure (to produce personal info say), so if you pressure somebody into being honest, you put them into an extremely uneasy almost inescapable headlock, that will ultimately still only yield lies.
The movie "catfish" actually does a better job probing for truth (than pressuring): It creates trust and a real relationship. Which IRONICALLY is also not really sincere, in fact it's the same thing as faking familiarity by providing pictures and information. It even gives the viewers the warm-fuzzies, of safety, kindness and acceptance, all the while eviscerating and parading the private entrails of the *mother of two retarded children. Though maybe this isn't even a betrayal of trust, but a kind of trade of privacy for fame.