UDL Vlog: Options for Perceptions

Catfishing

"On free dating sites, at least 10% of new accounts are from scammers, says Marketdata Enterprise, Inc.

Catfish, anyone?"

The internet has been a useful tool for my entire life. I can never remember a time where I didn't have access to the Wordl Wide Web. Of course, we have evolved from the grossly slow dial up to high speed wireless internet. And even now we have handheld computers that can have 4G internet access at essentially anytime and anywhere. Social media has exploded in our society as a way of communicating and, to my dismay, a method of meeting new people. Although this progress in technology can holds great value in our society, there are also negative consequences our students are facing as a result of social media. One of these threats is catfishing.

According to Merriam Webster's dictionary, the term "catfish" means a person who sets up a false personal profile on a social networking site for fraudulent or deceptive purposes. This type of trickery can occur to anyone who has a social media profile, including websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, any email site, and of course, dating sites. Commonly, a catfisher will create a fake profile to capture the attention of the their victim, whether it be through a friendship or romantic relationship. In these fake relationships, it is tempting to stretch the actual truth or to only show the side of yourself that you think is best for the world to see. The truth is that most of us do this from time to time. But the scary thing with social media is that you can be anything; you can create any image of yourself that you want the world to see. And when this "profile" isn't the real you, you are free to say everything and anything with no worry that your will will trace back to the real you.

Because the term "catfish" is so new to our society, there isn't a law regarding consequences for proving an individual as a victim to this threat. But according to HG.org on legal resources, there are other already existing related laws that provide protection from these online perpetrators:

"Fraud claims may be premised on the fact that a person materially represented himself or herself, another person reasonably relied on this misrepresentation, the person knew that the representation was false and intended the other person to rely on it and the other person was injured in some manner". 

Although it may be difficult to prove, injury to the person involved is what crosses the line when it comes to catfishing. One method of injury includes intentional inflection of emotional stress.

"Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress claims are successful when the victim can prove that the defendant’s conduct is extreme and outrageous and that conduct resulted in severe emotional distress in the victim".

If the victim can demonstrate psychological damage from the conduct of the catfisher, then they may be legally protected from this threat. Another means of justice could be misappropriation of likeness:

"Misappropriation of Likeness requires showing that the perpetrator used a protected attribute of another individual in an exploitative manner without the consent of the person to whom the attribute belonged".

This is a misrepresentation of an individual, such as using photos of someone else and claiming them as their own. There are a few other related claims an individual can make depending on the specific situation. These include harassment, stalking and defamation.

Thankfully, I found many resources for teaching the dangers of catfishing to my future students. One stood out above the rest, and I think I could use this in a high school health class. This presentation has warning signs, popular examples, statistics, and ways to keep your identity safe while using social media. Here is a link to the presentation I would use when teaching the dangers of social media, and methods of being safe while online.

Resources:

Can I Sue For Being Catfished. (2016). Retrieved October 12, 2016, from https://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=33850 

Catfish. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2016, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/catfish

Catfishing: Pretending to be Someone Else Online. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2016, from http://us.reachout.com/facts/factsheet/catfish-pretending-to-be-someone-else-online

Sutton, R. (2014). 16 Scary Statistics of Online Dating. Retrieved October 12, 2016, from https://www.phactual.com/16-scary-statistics-of-online-dating/

Warning Sign of a Catfish Online. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2016, from http://visual.ly/warning-sign-catfish-online