January 2014
Unless you’ve been living under the proverbial rock these last few years you’ll have heard of Catfish.
I first saw the film when I was at uni. A recommendation from a friend of a friend.. and one I proceeded to pass on myself. The film itself was shocking.. but in a shitthisreallyhappensdoesntit? kinda way. Without being a huge spoiler bitch – all I’ll say is – poor New York photographer Nev wasn’t talking to exactly who he thought he was online..
Along with the MTV series that followed – the safety of online relationships was thrown into the spotlight. We all have social networks whether we’re a Facebooker, a Twit or are capturing our every meal on Instagram. Its become part of everyday life to share whatever we’re doing with our ‘followers’ or ‘virtual friends’. But do we really know who it is we’re talking to and sharing things with?
Fake profiles aren’t exactly a revelation.. but the extent that it appears some people go to to keep up the lie is the real crazy part. I find myself seriously wondering the motives for such a game. Lack of self-confidence? Pure entertainment at fooling someone? Who knows..
But what the episodes of Catfish really reveal is how easily people are sucked into believing these lies. Just because you’ve seen photos or even heard their voice on the phone.. its a sad fact that you could be speaking to literally anyone on the other end..
I can’t help but think that if someone refused to Skype me – there must be something up?
I just can’t imagine wanting to lie. We probably all big up our lives to seem as interesting as possible, choose the best profile picture and abuse the filters on Instagram.. but telling massive porkies is dangerous territory.. Not to mention hard bloody work surely?
Its true that, today, a big part of networking, meeting people and staying in touch with loved ones – is online. The fact that we can talk to people on the other side of the world, sometimes who we probably would never have known about before is a strange concept when you think about it. And for me personally, things like Skype and Facetime are a God-send with having family members scattered in various different timezones.
However, with along with all of its perks – the ugly side of the internet all too often rears its head.
Internet bullying and trolls are pretty much buzzwords these days – and its only recently that I’ve actually experienced such things personally. Whether it be jealousy or just pure boredom – having people anonymously message me ‘nasty’ things on my tumblr and even through my personal email address is slightly bizarre. I’ll admit I found it amusing at first. I’m not the most confident person ever.. I have self-esteem issues like any young woman.. but even I could tell these people were talking bollocks.. but then it just got ridiculous. It made me wanna go on a major Twitter vacation.. and I did for a bit.
Things like that really make you appreciate ‘real life’. Life outside of the computer screen. That sounds silly.. but the amount of time we spend logged in to whatever on our laptops, phones and tablets seriously decreases the time we actually spend living. And even when we are out and socialising – we’re documenting it on Twitter and Facebook as we go. Gone are the days where you’d go and develop your film and get to re-live that past night out or holiday. Memories are now instant and the longest you’ll have to wait to see those photographs is the morning after the night before.
When my grandma tells me the sweet story of how her and my grandad met down at a RAF base in Kent where she lived, it makes me kinda sad.. these days its more likely he’d follow her on Twitter. Ever so slightly less romantic eh?
cattface.com 