Catfish And The Manti Te’o Story

I was telling my mother this morning about a show I watch called “Catfish.” It’s a show on MTV that is based off of a documentary about people online pretending to be someone else by posting false information and fake images.

People reach out to the show to help them investigate someone they’ve met online but have never met in real life. It usually ends in tremendous disappointment and sadness but is equally entertaining.

The Manti Te’o story, found here on Deadspin, is very interesting to me because I have just started watching the show “Catfish.” The idea of a pure online relationship to me is totally ridiculous. I don’t understand how people can get so emotionally attached to a person without physically meeting them. Video chatting with someone is believable but this involves communicating only by email, messaging on social media, or phone calls.

If you have someone in your life that you have met online, and every time you try to actually, physically meet up with them they make up an excuse as to why they can not, you are more than likely a “catfish” victim.

To “love” someone you have never met in real life is just beyond my understanding. Almost all of the people featured on the TV show exchange “I love you’s” with their online significant other. Some have even gone as far as what I’m assuming is “cyber sex” or “cybering.” Am I correct using these terms?

It can get really weird really fast.

Manti Te’o was either the victim of someone”catfishing” him or he was involved in the hoax for publicity that coincided with his Heisman campaign.

This all sounds a little “fishy” to me. I am such a dork.

Here’s a link to an article on CNN about the MTV show “Catfish.”