Identity Crisis

The events that unfolded in Catfish were definitely disturbing and creepy. The fact that the web of lies that was created and managed by one person was so deep and complex just baffles me. This just goes to show that nothing on the internet can be taken lightly. We all hear those funny stories about how two predators meet up because both think that they are middleschoolers hooking up. However, this is actually a serious issue and Catfish is a great example of a story no one would believe if there was no proof, but this is just one of hundreds of stories just like it. The internet makes hiding your identity just so easy. You can become anybody you wish to be in mere minutes. You can make your profile name, bio, picture, friends, and really anything be whatever you want. To others, you are essentially the person in your profile. No one that you do not know personally could easily not be who they appear. However, most people on social media are not liars trying to pass as other people, right? Unfortunately not. When we make a post, we always show the best things about ourselves. That family trip to the Bahamas is definitely getting posted, but certainly not you just got fired from your job. Our social media pages only reflect the good in our lives, but never the bad. We are not sharing the full picture of who we really are. So in a sense, while we are not making completely new identities for ourselves, we are shaping the identities that we do share into the ones that we want other people to see. According to what other's see, our lives are always great and going well, when in reality we are all suffering and are broken in some way. We just never show that to the world. So in a way, we are all catfish, keeping other's guessing at who we truly are beyond what we post.