In today’s world many of us can feel alone, can feel unwanted
and ultimately not ourselves, That thought is heartbreaking but there is a
place of refuge for some people who feel like that. They can write a blog, they
can make online accounts and post about what they love and they can go on
chatrooms and talk to other people who feel what they feel and love what they
love. But some people are so unhappy with their lives and unfortunately
themselves that they take talking online chatting and meeting new people to a
whole other extreme. I’m talking about Catfishing, this term is not that common
but basically ‘catfish’ is someone who pretends to be someone they're not using
Facebook or other social media to create false identities. This can range from
one end of the scale to other. Catfishing is a real issue, it needs more attention
these people, and both the catfish and the person being catfished need help.
Most of us have sat through assembly after assembly telling,
always telling us about the danger of talking to a stranger online. Let’s face
it most of us brush it off because we think ‘hey that can never happen to me’.
But the thing is you think that until it actually happens to you, it’s more common
than you think because it is so easy to do. Some of you may be familiar with
the MTV show Catfish, (if you haven’t seen it I highly recommend it), as you
can tell by the title it’s about catfishing. These two guys ; Neve and Max help
people find out who people have really been talking to and then they try and
help as much as they can.
It’s a basic human desire to be wanted, to be needed and to
be loved. Without attachments we are simply living and going through the
motions. People who catfish have never felt this; they have either been
deprived or are depriving themselves of the basic need of attachment, the idea
of forming a relationship with someone without ever having to see them, never
having to worry about how you look and never having to give anything of
yourself. To them nothing could be better; they manipulate innocent people to
make themselves feel powerful, attractive and desired. They take and take, they
take money, they take gifts and they take someone’s trust. It’s all imagination
and a computer screen that’s enough to make them feel complete.
Catfishing can leave a disastrous aftermath; there have been
cases where people have lost all their money. Some have even ended in a suicide
or a murder. Because of catfishing both parties can have their whole lives
messed up; it can ruin people emotionally, mentally and physically. The issue
of catfishing HAS to be resolved, it is scarily easily to do and it is scarily
easy to fall in the trap.
Catfishing is real and it can be a horrible experience, but
with the right knowledge there are ways you can prevent it from happening to
yourself, here are some ideas:
1)
Be cautious of random people
2)
Don’t give out personal details
3)
Use higher quality sites or chatrooms
4)
Don’t give them money, they will thinks it okay
and keep asking
5)
Ask for proof
6)
Trust yourself and what your gut feeling is
7)
Don’t add people you haven’t met
8)
If they refuse to video chat, well that’s a
massive red flag
9)
Get a second opinion on the situation
10)
BE AWARE
Life at its best isn’t easy in a way I guess you could say
people who catfish, are just lost boys and girls and the internet is their neverland.
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