"Catfish": What does that actually mean?
The word comes from English and is actually just the name for the largest freshwater fish in Europe, the catfish. Now, however, "catfish" has a completely different meaning on the Internet, here someone is referred to with the expression if they present themselves or pretend to be someone else.
Where is the term commonly used?
For understandable reasons, "catfish" is often used on dating platforms. Here everyone wants to present themselves well in order to impress potential partners. In the worst case, someone has assumed a completely different identity and you are faced with a completely different person who does not want anything good.
Children and young people should be very careful here! As a parent, you should always keep a close eye on such activities. This is not primarily about dating, but about online gamers and their chats. Snapchat is also to be viewed critically, since the “proof photos” will disappear again. In this case, a "catfish" often pretends to be a child of the same age with exactly the same hobbies and problems and then asks for a personal meeting.
What should be considered when using it?
There are two meanings. A negative one where the "catfish" may have tricked you into disclosing personal and sensitive information about yourself. Such a "catfish" wants to manipulate and represents a danger.
Another meaning can be explained with the term "chameleon". On TikTok, for example, there are mostly young women who show that they can transform themselves from a state without make-up into a visually completely different person with the help of makeup. In this case, you can also describe a very changeable person in this way, who is constantly changing and reinventing himself with new clothes or hairstyles. Prominent example: Madonna. Here the statement "catfish" is not to be seen negatively.
The program "The Circle" (Netflix) even deliberately relies on "catfishing" by asking the candidates at the beginning whether they want to appear real or as "catfish". In this format there are only the news as a means of communication, you don't see each other in person. It's about winning the popularity contest. However, this is not so easy, because without face-to-face contact, the mood pendulum can swing quickly.
"What a honk!" You hear this expression more often, but what does it mean...
How do you recognize a catfish?
A "catfish" usually refuses personal contact for a long time and doesn't want any Video-Chats like Facetime or Skype. He usually has an excuse why he can't, illness, grandma's visit, etc. He himself has few personal photos online.
How do I protect myself from catfishing?
If you are unsure whether you are dealing with a real person, you can do the following:
Check the chat partner's timeline. Is there only this one profile? Do you have mutual friends?
Use the GooglePictures Reverse search by dragging the contact's image file onto the search field.
It is important that you never disclose personal data, neither account data nor personal intimate information about yourself. This can make you vulnerable to blackmail. Consider that you probably wouldn't tell such things even to your parents or best friends!
