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Dr. Petroski
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Manti and the Catfish Fry Empty Manti and the Catfish Fry

Thu May 24, 2018 9:09 pm
During the 2012 NCAA FBS football season, traditional power Notre Dame returned to their glory days, reaching (although ultimately losing) the BCS national championship game. The team was propelled all season by all-American linebacker Manti Te’o and his inspirational story. During the season, in the week leading up to a game against rival Michigan State, Manti’s grandmother and his girlfriend Lennay Kekua—who had been dying of complications with leukemia—both passed away within 24 hours of each other. Heartbroken, Manti decided to play in the game against Michigan State and recorded 12 tackles, one sack, and a fumble recovery, leading his team to a 20-3 victory. Part of the reason Manti played in the game rather than returning home to Hawaii were the inspirational words of Kekua, who told him that no matter what happened to her, he should continue playing football.

After the season ended, details began emerging about Manti’s girlfriend. It seems she may not have actually died of leukemia as was reported during the season. It also seemed that she may not have actually existed in the first place. Instead, it came to light that Te’o was part of an elaborate hoax (most likely as the victim of the hoax), which was designed to make him believe that Lennay Kekua actually existed, created by Ronaiah Tuiasopo. Pictures of his girlfriend existed, but the actual person who those pictures were of did not know they were being used. And Manti had never met his girlfriend face-to-face.

Known as a “catfish,” this is defined on Urban Dictionary as “someone who pretends to be someone they’re not using Facebook or other social media to create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive online romances.” The phrase was coined by documentary filmmaker Ariel Schulman, who showed a similar story in the 2010 movie Catfish and has worked on a MTV series of the same name. As discussed in Chapter 5, this is just the kind of media coverage that could lead people to think that this is a common phenomenon. But is it?

Online, you can be anyone you want to be because of the restriction of the visual information that would tell you that a person is not who they say they are, right? It is hard to ignore the fact that what happened to Manti Te’o would not have happened face-to-face (or at least would have been incredibly difficult). The lack of nonverbal cues in many online platforms does lead to possibilities for deception that would be hard, if not impossible, to pull off face-to-face. However, as Cornell professor Jeff Hancock has pointed out, social media actually seems to lead to less deception overall, compared to face-to-face interaction.

How common do you think this phenomenon is? Are people constantly getting deceived? Or is the perceived prevalence of the "catfish" just a common fear that is a knee-jerk reaction to evolving notions of relationships? More to the point...is this something that is exclusive to online relationships? Could it be that those that fall prey to catfish situations are simply naive about relationships and the ways they develop? Could this also be a function people mistakenly making the assumption that online relationships are different from face-to-face relationships? What do you think?
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demaioe2@southernct.edu
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Manti and the Catfish Fry Empty Reply to "Manti and the Catfish Fry"

Tue Jun 18, 2019 4:16 pm
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In my opinion,  "catfishing"  is very wrong and some people who fall for it may be a little bit naive about  the relationship but I don't think it is their fault. This can happen to pretty much anyone because we all want someone who we can connect with and although these people haven't met face to face, they enjoy the connection they are having with the other person that they may not get with anyone else. They truly believe that what the other person is saying about themselves is true because they feel that deep connection and think it is real. It probably is a smart idea to make sure that you are able to meet up with that person at some point and if they won't do it, there is most likely a very specific reason why. However, I do not think that this is something that is exclusive to online relationships. Even if you have met your partner several times and have been together for years, they can still be hiding very important information about their identity. I personally don't think that this happens as often as online but, it definitely can and does happen. I do think that online relationships are different from face to face relationships because it is much easier for someone to hide who they are behind a screen. You also aren't getting the same connection as you would in person because you are not able to see their body language and there isn't physical contact. Overall, I believe that it is very important to meet the person you are dating so that you know who they are and have a better chance at having a healthy and honest relationship with them.
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alexismpeck
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Manti and the Catfish Fry Empty Reply - Is "Catfishing" a New Phenomenon?

Tue Jun 18, 2019 6:51 pm
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“Catfishing” is something that I have heard of often through the media, yet have never personally met someone who has been a victim of it. The basic idea behind being catfished, is being lied to and mislead about who you are in a relationship with. Online, this is seen with fake profiles, fake pictures and often lies in conversations and messages. I believe that the medias portrays catfishing situations like Manti Te’o’s to be very common with the growing use of technology; they act as though they are spreading awareness of this new trend. But the idea behind catfishing, being lied to or mislead is not new or specific to online relationships. Almost all people have known someone who they later found out lied about who they were as a person. In fact, many in person relationships end due to one person discovering that the other was lying about who they were. Catfishing online is only different because person can lie about their physical appearances as well. From an outsiders view, it may seem so naive and idiotic that a person could get into a relationship online with someone who ends up being totally different. I know I have watched the show Catfish and myself have questioned how anyone could be in a relationship with someone for so long before communicating face to face or finding out their identity was fake. But when truly thinking about the situation, people can be married or in relationships for extremely long periods of time before discovering that their partner was lying about their true self. Online relationships add new and easier ways for people to lie about themselves, but this is just an expansion on something that is already extremely common. Lying is not a new phenomenon, people have just found new methods of lying through technology.
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morriss7
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Manti and the Catfish Fry Empty Catfishing

Tue Jun 18, 2019 11:46 pm
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To begin answering the questions chronologically, I do not think that Catfishing is as frequent as media may cause it to appear. Much like many of the statistics, stories, and ideas that media publishes and promotes, it may be causing it appear more frequent then it truly is. While I do agree, some individuals are deceived by this, I do not believe this will be a large substantial number, to warrant additional attention. I do not think it is completely exclusive to online relationships however. I think the primary root and source of the deception comes from, one, naivety, two, desperation, three, their previous relationships or lack thereof, and finally cognitive ability.

Returning to point one, individuals who have a greater naivety are more likely to fall for the deception. Sadly, every individual needs to have a level a cynical perception when looking at the world. While it always nice to feel needed and wanted, we should still evaluate each of the relationships we hold, both romantically, and non-romantically. Two, if an individual is rushing or desperate to enter a relationship, they may also make a mistake. Much like a driver speeding, they may miss critical information if they rush into an online relationship. Three, if the individual was hurt from a previous relationship, they may also be more susceptible to fall for the deceit. Lastly, cognitive ability also may play a factor. The cognitive intelligence of individuals may cause them to perceive situations differently.
Each of the factors slightly relate to one another, however, no one aspect alone causes an individual to fall prey to the deception. All four factors create what could possibly be a victim to the deceit. Individuals who would fall for the deception online, may be just as likely to do so in person as well, given the correct environment.
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