Originally catfishing was a term used as a way to describe people who create fake personnel online to lure others into their ideal relationship and have a financial gain. Now people use this term to describe people that change their looks due to excessive makeup or filtering and editing photos of themselves.
In this article I am going to explain some of the different reasons people catfish and what others think about catfishing.
Why might people catfish?
Although the original meaning of catfishing is socially wrong some find comfort in pretending to be someone else. People who are catfishing tend to pick someone they idealise or wish they looked like to hide as while catfishing. Seeing others be a catfish and get away with doing this is a way to entice them into attempting this.
If you lack confidence in yourself, you may find that pretending to be another person brings you confidence. You may use other’s photos as they are your own like a mask to hide your insecurities. A very common reason people catfish is because they are hiding their sexuality. You may find that a someone is pretending to be a different person because they find the same gender attractive. They could be scared to say or struggle to explore their sexuality. Hiding behind someone else’s face online can become a comfort blanket. They can be who they truly are with their personality but not with how they look or who they are.
The effects of calling someone a catfish in today’s world.
As people throw around the word catfish today, we tend to forget the actual meaning. We find ourselves calling people this name because they wear excessive makeup or put a lot of filters or editing on their photos. We forget about their feelings as we think they are attempting to deceive us on how they look. Others lack understanding as to why people use makeup or edit photos. In most cases people are not trying to deceive us when doing this.
It is found that younger men and women tend to do these things the most but have many different reasons. Mostly people that have a very low self-image or self-worth use these ways to change their look. They want to look similar to their idols, or other people may find attractive. Sometimes it is just as simple as they are trying to hide marking or changes on their body they dislike.
Reasons you may tend to hide how you look are:
- Hiding scars. Scaring can take a knock on your self-image; it could be simple acne scarring or scars from an accident that you don’t like the look off. Excessive makeup can hide these scars but also can hide a lot of other imperfections on the skin. Remember no one is perfect.
- Burn marks. Excessive makeup or editing photos of yourself can hide your burn marks whether big or small. Doing this may bring you confidence while others may feel as though you are deceiving them.
- Birth marks. Around 15% of people are born with birthmarks. Some may be visible some may not be. Hiding birthmarks brings you comfort as you may not like your marks. You may also lack confidence in yourself if your birthmark is visible.
Emotional reasons you may be catfishing.
When bullying others, it can huge impact on their self-image. You may be desperate to change your looks if your have been bullied. Using excessive makeup or filtering your photographs can bring you some content. People are less likely to bully you when you look different due to the makeup or filters.
You do not like the way you look. Social media has a massive impact on how we want to look or how we should based on how others look. Instagram models influence young girls, as puberty is kicking in on these girls’ bodies. They start to pick out the dislikes on their bodies and likes on the Instagram models’ bodies. Today society has expectations on how men and women should look based on social media and people want to live up to this. Most teens do not realise these are extremely high expectations and can be very costly but also dangerous to health.
Do people know that drastic changes to their looks is catfishing?
Some people find makeup and editing photos as way of expressing themselves. You may find happiness in expressing yourself through makeup and some may call it artistic. Not all people overuse makeup and edit their photos are to be deceiving about how they look. They just enjoy being artistic. In most cases people are not trying to deceive you and are only doing these extreme changes for themselves and their artistic urges.
When you are being catfished.
Going back to the original term for catfish, if this has happened to you, you may feel hurt or used. Lashing out on the individual that catfished you can be one of the many ways you find yourself reacting.
It is natural for you to feel as though you have been lied to and can be extremely hurt by the person that has deceived you. You may be likely to fall for it if you are seeking attention and love from someone and don’t care where you get it from. You enjoy the idea of love, and when this person online is showing you a lot of love you believe it. The truth may come out and devastate you.
Friends and family may be the ones to point out that it may be too good to be true. You can think they are being disapproval of your online relationship. The best thing to do is listen to your family and friends they can notice things that you cannot.
You may be an easy target if you find it hard to make connections face to face but can do so when online. When you find out you have been catfished you can be emotionally hurt. You can feel as though the person cannot show you the real you after all the time you spent creating this bond.
The red flags for spotting a catfish.
You cannot stop a catfish, but you can prevent it happening to you.
- Do a google search. Search the person in questions name on google see what you can find on them.
- Give yourself a two-week deadline. If you haven’t met the individual within two weeks question them as to why you haven’t met up.
- Remember that people can lie about anything.
- Use dating sites as means to meet people not date people.
- Never send over money, especially if you have never met them in person.