Being born in the early ’90s, I’ve lived through quite a lot in my quarter of a century on this earth.
I’ve seen the rise of the internet and the fall of the Twin Towers. I’ve seen smartphones take over the world and both the first African-American and Orange-American presidents. We’ve seen the birth of social networking giants such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as the death of massive media platforms such MySpace, and sooner or later, Twitter. Point is, over the past decade, technology has been revolutionized in ways we’ve never seen, and these advancements have impacted all aspects of life, including dating.
This is why, in today’s society, being catfished is nowhere near as taboo as it used to be, and because of that, it’s nowhere near as embarrassing as it used to be.
Here are just a couple of reasons why being catfished isn’t as embarrassing as it used to be.
Smartphones Have Flipped Dating On Its Head
Just like everything else in 2017, the point I’m trying to make can be summarized with a meme:
That same inversion of social norms can be applied to online dating.
10, 20 years ago, online dating was seen as a last resort for the hopeless romantic. Now, in 2017, thanks to the invention of mobile dating apps like Tinder and Bumble, it’s the status quo.
In fact, the shift in dating culture has been so drastic that millennials are 75% more likely than baby boomers to have dated someone online and 57% more likely than those of other generations to have created a profile on a dating app.
In today’s society, not only is it more common than ever to date online, but it’s easier than ever to create a fake profile. So, just by way of sheer statistics, that means more people are being catfished, too.
It’s A Lot More Common Than You Think
Here’s where math comes into the equation.
According to Next Shark, in the last decade alone, the percentage of people who know someone that has dated online has risen from 11% to 42%. That’s a 73% increase, and yes, I Googled how to figure out that number all by myself.
With the number of people dating online increasing, so does the number of people getting catfished.
Nobody Cares
Shutterstock
I’m not sure if you’ve looked outside recently, but it’s pretty hectic out there. North Korea is determined to blow themselves up and the student debt bubble is about to burst. Temperatures and water levels are rising while the value of the dollar is falling.
Point being, people have enough to worry about in their own lives, let alone the lives of others.
A couple of months ago, a buddy of mine — who crushes, mind you– was all giddy about some girl he met on Tinder. There was only one strange problem: she asked him for pictures of his feet.
He asked us what he should do, so we checked out her pictures to see what he was working with. It turned out she was a 10, so we told him to play into her apparent foot fetish. What’s the harm, right? Except, my friends and I weren’t being totally honest to our boy because when he looked at the pictures of the alleged Tinder match, we recognized the girl immediately — it was Instagram model Rachel Bush.
But instead of chastising or criticizing our boy for playing into a catfish, we had a little fun with him. And you know why? Knowing that it could have happened to any one of us meant that none of us could care less.
People Can Get Catfished Without Even Realizing It
Seriously. That’s how next-level the catfish of the world have become. With the endless reach and scope of the internet and social media, it’s as easy as it’s ever been to become a victim of catfishing.
So, how do you know, for sure, that it’s happening to you? Well, that’s not for us to say, as we aren’t the catfishing professionals. But luckily for you, the people over at Catfish are experts, and they are looking for new cases! If you have a sinking feeling that you may be a victim of catfishing, fill out Catfish‘s free application and see if you qualify!
