Online Dating / “Catfish”
Online dating has become a common way to meet people, but people on online dating sites are not always truthful about their identities. There have been many people scammed into thinking that they are talking to one person, while the person on the other side of the screen is lying about his or her identity. “Catfish,” a new show on MTV, works to help people who have been talking online meet face-to-face.
Yaniv “Nev” Schulman, one of the hosts of the show, was once a victim of falling for someone on Facebook who was not who she said she was. In 2010, Schulman’s brother and a mutual friend made a documentary, also entitled “Catfish,” about Schulman’s online relationship and the journey he took to find out the truth. After the initial film, the word “catfish” became a common term to describe an individual who pretends online to be someone that he or she is not, creating a false identity, particularly to pursue a deceptive online romance, according to the Urban Dictionary website. MTV’s new show “Catfish” is a spinoff similar to the original documentary, but it focuses on helping people discover the truth about their online relationships.
This show is a reality show of sorts, but unlike many of the shows on MTV, such as “Jersey Shore,” there are no fights or drunken nights. I am not much of a fan of reality shows, but when I watched “Catfish,” I loved watching Schulman and his fellow co-host, Max Joseph, help others. I also enjoyed hearing the stories that each person had to share. Watching someone finally meet the person they had been talking to for years was a good feeling.
The show has released only a few episodes, but it reflects the reality of online dating—there are so many people who do not know whether they are talking to the same person they have seen in the pictures on social media sites. The Internet makes lying about one’s identity, and many other things, very easy. Anyone can become a victim to the lies, but not everyone is willing to learn the truth. Schulman is not the first person to be deceived by an online relationship, but both his film and the new show bring more attention to the problem. The show is especially innovative because it offers help to others who may be involved in a deceptive online relationship.
Not everyone online lies about who they are just to get people to talk to them, and sometimes people really can meet online the one they will marry. But seeing the many negativities of meeting someone online has made me more of a skeptic than a believer. I have seen the good and the bad of online dating; I have family members who met online and are now happily married. But this is just one example of online dating that had a successful outcome. Personally, I could not see myself trying to find a man online, knowing that there are so many people willing to lie to make me fall in love with them. Still, “Catfish” shows that not everyone is lying about his or her identity, because sometimes people really are who they say they are.
Online dating can work for some people, but I would never trust the person on the other side of the screen until I met him. So if you decide that you want to pursue someone online, be careful to make sure that you really know the person. People can find love online, but the Internet is a scary place to trust a person. To see online relationships unfold, you can watch “Catfish” on Monday nights at 11 p.m. on MTV.
