Is "Catfishing" a form of terrorism?

In past times, humans have encountered different eras throughout the ages: The stone age, the bronze age, etc… Now, the information age is upon us. The world in which we live in is so dependent on technology that, cyber attacks have become an officially recognized terrorist attack on national security (alongside nuclear, chemical, aircraft, and bombs). Technology is so powerful that sometimes, technology can have drastic affects on our health and safety. Identity theft and identity impersonation are very relevant in our time. Although minor offences of cyber attacks (such as “catfishing”) might not be as drastic as say… a cyber attack on a large corporation that wipes all of its data… “catfishing” should still be regulated and prevented at all costs.

In the movie “Catfish” the audience gets a glimpse into what it might feel like to be catfished. Nev gradually falls in love with the beautiful, and stunning Megan, or so he thinks! As time progresses, Nev becomes increasingly suspicious of this Megan character. Eventually, Nev catches on and decides to investigate himself. He travels across the country to seek out the illusive Megan. As he meets Angela (Megan’s mom) the charade starts unraveling itself. Nev soon discovers that it was actually Angela pretending to be a multitude of personalities the whole time! It is slightly impressive the amount of time an effort Angela put into her social profiling to pull of this act of cyber impersonation. In the end, the audience is torn between feeling angry at Angela for wasting so much time of other people’s lives, and feeling sad for the inevitable reality that Angela was simply living vicariously through a wide range of alternate personalities. Ultimately, the film ends on a positive note of Angela deleting her alternate personalities and living true to herself in her own Facebook profile.

The movie “Catfish” portrays a relatively minor experience of identity impersonation. We have to keep in mind that there are much more cunning individuals in our world. The shear number of criminals in this world combined with the ease and simplicity of hiding behind a wall of social media can allow for some major consequences. Just think, a serial killer could have been impersonating Megan. The serial killer could seduce any number of people to travel out to the house only to realize their own demise. Overall, we should be ore careful of how we use technology. You never know who is behind the mask.