Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Wacky Wednesday...Let's talk Catfish...

What is being "Cat-fished" mean? 

Have you ever been? 

With the online craze that the kids now a days rely on for dating needs, how many of you really think that you are talking to the person you think you are? 

 

Image from MTV.com

 You join Match.com, hoping to find the one, not really knowing what to expect but trying to be open minded on this journey. 

--This is where I have to rely on my friends who are using the services that are out there because I got married before these were such a big hit! 

So you start checking people's profiles and send "winks" trying to show your interest. Then..you wait...and wait..

Now, I have been told that this service is not as speedy as some, but let's say you get a "wink" back from a person of interest. You are jumping up and down and start "talking" to this person through chat and message. You develop a relationship with this person. 

What if years pass. You have changed your facebook status to "in a relationship" even though the person you are in this relationship with you have never even seen in person.

OK, --hold up.. I am so old school. Does this really happen? 
Yes, yes it does!   Are you shocked? Are you amazed? 

I watch MTV's Catfish and this is exactly what is happening to tons of people around the world. 


Each season we meet up with Nev Schulman and Max Joseph as they take us on another adventure to meeting one part of the "online" couple who has decided they are ready to meet the other party after years of having this Internet relationship.   

I think that this show is so awesome because Nev himself was Catfished.  He is someone that we can all relate to, connect with and with Max, they make a great team and understand and care about what the reality could be and I can say, as an avid tuner, it usually is not the person from the pictures.

I started the T.V. series before I watched the movie of Nev, Catfish, a documentary, that he, himself put together in 2010.  The documentary is almost disturbing because Nev thinks he is having a relationship with a beautiful woman and when he goes to meet her he finds a married woman who is having relationship with multiple people via the Internet. He is heartbroken to say the least.


What can we expect from Season 3 of Catfish, the T.V. show?

If you are anything like me, amazed by this new dating experience, and you are watching Catfish on MTV, you want to know what we can expect from this season's line up of the show, right? 

{Image from MTV.com}

we are heading into season 3, starting May 7th at 10:00 p.m. on MTV and per Nev and Max we are up for a darker season then we have seen to date.  They say that the Catfish victims have gotten smarter, but so have the Catfishers. 


It has been reported that the victims seem to be less gullible this season and harder to find, but it also seems that the catfishers are getting more manipulative this season, finding people to send them money, go places, or having physical, real-world things happen through the Internet.  We also should not expect all romantic stories this season. We can expect catfishing an entire town, cyber-bullying, and even just to get people to turn against one another. 

As for how Nev feelings about Online dating, he is stated to have said, "I remain hopeful for human beings but have become more and more skeptical of Internet relationships.”



I, personally, can not wait for this next season to get underway. I think that bringing in the other aspects that happen with the use of the Internet will give the show a new light, a look into what the Internet can do both positive and negative. 

As a mother, I dread the Internet for my girls teenage years. Social media can fuel bullying and as a bullying survivor (in my high school days) I am personally not looking forward to this hateful weapon.  I hope that I can teach my girls to never judge, never make fun but instead find positive in everything and everyone. Everyone is different, they are supposed to be and we should all learn to appreciate that. 

As far as using the Internet as a dating tool, use caution. It can be a wonderful experience or a terrible, down right scary experience. I think that there are warning signs that should be looked at without the rose colored glasses on before jumping feet first.

I love the idea about real-time photos, including words that you request and in a time frame, or just using other tips to make sure that this is "real" or as "real" as it can be. 

I wish that our society was a little more honest, but people will be people and as I Love to say, 'to each their own.'

 
 
I just hope that everyone watches the Catfish Project and learns from it. You can be the nicest person in the world, think that nothing like that could ever happen to you..until it does and it leaves you heartbroken, or broke. 

Tune in on May 7th with me at 10:00pm on MTV and let's keeping learning the warning signs and bring hope back to honest people.

Happy Dating all!

~KEL~
 
 

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