http://forum.livefish.com.au/
Facebook became one of the most widely used social media
sites on the internet with 2 million users after its initial launch on February
4th 2004. It has been stated
in the week 3 lecture that “Texts did not
exist in a vacuum. Rather they respond to texts in the same field.” (Luyn, 2015)
Facebook has allowed people to connect. Giving people the ability to share their
ideas, thoughts, photos and cat videos, with friends and family, no matter
where they are in the world. However, whilst this is a place where friends and
family connect there are still dangers in using social media sites like Facebook.
One such danger is
connecting and interacting with people that have never met outside of the
internet. Nowadays it is extremely easy for people to create a false identity
in order to use, manipulate or trick people, into thinking they are someone
else. This idea of ‘Catfishing’ can be a serious risk that faces people who
commit themselves to online relationships or friendships, without having ever
met the person they are interacting with.
Though they have never met face to face people can have a
falsified feeling of affection to the person they talk to via social media. As
stated by week 3 guest speaker Ariella Van Luyn she states that; “Discourse are a set of representations that
enable identity to be constructed and social relationships to be constituted.”
(Luyn, 2015) friendships and relationships that are formed online are always at
risk of getting Catfished. That is why stranger danger is such an important factor
to consider when using social media sites like Facebook to meet new people.
References
Phillips, S. (2007). A
brief history of Facebook. the Guardian. Retrieved 14 August
2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2007/jul/25/media.newmedia
Quora.com,. (2015). How many users did Facebook have
after its first year? - Quora. Retrieved 14 August 2015, from http://www.quora.com/How-many-users-did-Facebook-have-after-its-first-year
Luyn, A. V. (2015) What is Genre [PowerPoint
slides]. retrieved from James Cook University BA1002 Blackboard
site, week three lecture notes.
Cyberbullyhotline.com,. (2015). Catfishing: A
Growing Trend In Cyberbullying. Retrieved 14 August 2015, from http://www.cyberbullyhotline.com/catfishing.html
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSorry messed up something just fixing before repost
ReplyDeleteThough most of your points are well thought out, the idea that it is easy to fool people with a fake identity seems somewhat exaggerated. As mentioned in my own post the linguistic differences between groups and the genres they write in make pretending to be part of a group you have no experience of difficult.
ReplyDeletePart of what causes the larger problem is the sheer number of people who make up the pool of possible victims, after all even a small fraction of a million people is massive and the internet is much larger than that. Of course once assumed to be part of a group it can become much more difficult to prove to the group as a whole that there is an imposter, because of the way groups protect themselves and members (Everett et al. 2015).
So I suppose my response to problem of 'catfishing' is that is mostly caused by the scale of the internet rather than the ease of creating a duplicitous persona.
References
Everett, J., Faber, N., & Crockett, M. (2015, February 13). Preferences and beliefs in ingroup favoritism. Retrieved August 14, 2015, from http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00015/full
van Luyn, A(2015). BA1002 Week 3 lecture notes [pdf] retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-1892276-dt-content-rid-2691285_1/xid-2691285_1
I agree this "Catfish" issue of posing; changing even just straight out lying about your identity is something that all people should be aware about. Due to technology development we are seeing an age where online identity can be as much of a contributing element to society then their true physical identity. Point being they could be a cleaner during the day but online they are this high important user that plays a big role on the site or game that they use. People change their identities to suit genres as described by Ariella Van Luyn (2015). Miss representing yourself to gain advantage or to manipulate someone is wrong but very common; lets just hope that the more common it is the stronger and smarter the general public will be to defend themselves against it.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone has not seen the documentary “Catfish” directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman you should go and check it out. It is one eye opening yet disturbing piece of film and one that all should watch.
References
Luyn,A,V. (2015) What Is Genre [PowerPoint]. Jams Cook University BA1002. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_69740_1&content_id=_1892273_1
Universal Pictures. (2010, August 5). Catfish - Trailer [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuE98oeL-e0
In regards to discourse being a factor in online interactions, I believe there may be more to it than you have described. Whilst, yes, stranger danger is always a vital thing to consider when on the internet, I think discourses can be a helpful factor in avoiding catfishing. In every person’s ‘online life’, they have very specific circles, each of these circles with different discourses. It can be difficult to learn these discourses as an outsider and therefore can be easy to identify when someone is not native in the specific discourse. I think catfishing is easily avoidable not just through the old-fashioned method of only adding people you know but through understanding and being aware of the ‘ins-and-outs’ of your discourses and detecting attempts to infiltrate it by foreigners.
ReplyDeletevan Luyn, A(2015). BA1002 Week 3 lecture notes [pdf] retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-1892276-dt-content-rid-2691285_1/xid-2691285_1
Though I am not sure if 'catfishing' is a particularly new phenomenon, or just one that has adapted to the changing circumstances of social interaction, I do find it intriguing. I know a lot of people who have thousands of these ostensible 'friends' on Facebook, but why? Why do they regard their online - for lack of a better phrase - personal life so little that they allow perfect strangers to access it? Is it just the changing tide of social media and 'getting connected' in this ever decreasing world? McNeill (2012, pp. 316) writes that diaries were not always considered just a page for personal thoughts to be kept to the author of those words, they had been used by tourists and migrants as a means of keeping their families informed at home. An alien concept now, but Facebook seems to have filled that void. How often do you see photos of travelling friends of loved ones uploaded to Facebook? A modern day diary yes, but what do these 'catfish' mean to gain from this?
ReplyDeleteReferences
McNeill, L. (2012). Diary 2.0? A Genre Moves from Page to Screen. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc.