A catfish is someone who pretends to be someone they're not, using Facebook or other social media to create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive online romances." (Schulman, 2014, pg. 24)
- There are many kinds of catfish on the internet and they all have different motives for attention. Schulman mentions five types of catfish in In Real Life: Love, Lies & Identity in the Digital Age.
[h=2]CYRANO CATFISH[/h]
The cyrano catfish are one of the more common kinds you might run into online.These are people who are looking for love under a false name and appearance on their social media profiles. Pretending to be someone they are not, these catfish have online romances in an attempt to fool someone, but generally they just want a connection. Cyrano catfish can also be people who create fake accounts to hid their lonely feelings or their insecurities in order to escape from their real lives. (Schulman, 2014, pg. 26-27)
[h=2]REVENGE CATFISH[/h]
Revenge catfish usually know their online "love" before they create their fake profile. Their intention is to get revenge on someone they already know by pretending to be someone else. They set up a relationship and ultimately deceive the person on the other end. (Schulman, 2014, pg. 28)
[h=2]BENEVOLENT CATFISH[/h]
Sometimes catfish don't have the original intention of becoming a catfish. The benevolent catfish usually are on a mission to help someone through an online profile. These catfish usually have a friend that is having a hard time and they try to give them a meaningful relationship online to distract them and help them to move on. Although their intentions are good, the fake profiles eventually are revealed and disappointment is the outcome. (Schulman, 2014, pg. 28-29)
[h=2]SWINDLING CATFISH[/h]
Online dating is most often a chance at romance and affection. These catfish have a different intention. They only care about their livelihood and will deceive their online victims for money or other material objects. (Schulman, 2014, pg. 30)
[h=2]CELEBRITY IMPERSONATORS[/h]
This type of catfish is commonly seen online. Their intention is to obtain "fans." In order to do this they create fake celebrity profiles on social media platforms in order to increase their numbers for their satisfaction. (Schulman, 2014, pg. 31)
[h=2]
DID YOU KNOW?
"FACEBOOK ADMITS THAT A MIND-BOGGLING 83 MILLION FACEBOOK PROFILES -- 8.7% OF ALL PROFILES -- ARE FAKE OR DUPES"[/h]