'I can't believe it's you!' Catfish the tv show.

For the past couple of days I have been intrigued by this show called Catfish. It's a tv show based on the movie with the same name. Basically, it's about people who've had an online relationship for months (or even years) meeting up in real life for the first time. 'Catfishing someone' basically means pretending to be someone you're not online. I didn't really like the movie because it just didn't seem legit to me. The tv show is a whole different story for me though, because I do believe the people and situations are 'real' in this case.

I don't want to give away too much in case you feel like watching it after this post, but what I found really shocking is just how many people turn out to have some kind of big secret or are just an entirely different person. People who are basically addicted to creating fake online profiles. Who are experts in it.

Now, I don't want to sound like a very sad forever alone kind of person, but I think most friendships of mine started online. I never considered any of these people to be fake though, and if I did have my suspicions the conversations usually didn't last very long anyway. The golden rule for me on the internet is: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. This goes for anything from online profiles to those emails claiming you have won 18 million dollars. So far, I've never had bad experiences meeting somebody I met online in real life or through videochat. I can't even begin to imagine what it must feel like to meet someone you've been close to for so long, only to find out (almost) everything was just a lie.

I think the people on this show do know deep down inside something is not right, but most of them just remain ignorant. I understand that if you've been talking to someone so intimately for so long, your worst fear is that it's all a lie. The internet is a dream world. Anyone can be anybody for you. It's basically a fantasy. Nobody has to see your grumpy face without make-up, eating a bag of cheetos in your dirty socks. You can always be nice and pretty and happy. And that's what most people want right? Even though we know it's impossible and completely unrealistic. Everyone wishes they could have a perfect, forever happy relationship. But that's not how it works. You don't build a relationship on lies. When you love someone, you don't have to be nice all the time.

The internet is such a nice bubble. Who doesn't want to be someone else from time to time? It's great right? You can make anybody love you and want you by creating that perfect profile.
Except it's not you. 
It's someone else.
Or actually, it's a picture perfect profile with a stranger's face pasted onto it. From what I've seen, most people who create these fake profiles are people who have very low self esteem and personal problems. They just want to be loved and feel what it's like to live the life of this seemingly perfect stranger in the pictures. I think in the end, this will only leave you feeling even more hurt though. It just makes you realize how much of an illusion the internet actually is.

But it doesn't always end up bad! I've had nothing but good experiences. Just keep the golden rule in mind and you'll be good. This show just intrigues me... I mean, most of these people are falling in love with 'something' that isn't real. But then what is this love? Who have they fallen in love with? Is it really that easy to just win somebody's heart through words on a computer screen and a couple of stolen pictures? Or are these people just incredibly ignorant? I could go on and on about this forever, but I'll stop now.

The show is usually on MTV, but I'm sure you can also find streams of it online somewhere!