Self-Identity on the Internet: Catfish

            During the class discussion after my presentation, a classmate gave me the suggestion of viewing identity being hidden on social network sites. To further explore this, I decided to view a television show titled Catfish on MTV. The term Catfish is defined as an “online figure who pretends to be someone they are not by using someone else’s pictures and information.” The idea for the show is based on the documentary Catfish that came out a couple years ago. The documentary followed a photographer named Nev Schulman on his journey to meet a girl he he had met online. What ended up turning out was that Nev had fallen for a catfish. This documentary showed that through these social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, strangers are able to manipulate and convince others of their true identity.

            For this reason, Nev decided to create a television show that emulates his same journey. On each episode, Nev helps couples who have never met in life before meet for the first time. On the premiere episode, nursing student Sunny tells Nev about a model Jamsion that she met on Facebook. She tells Nev how they have been talking for 8 months, but have never Skyped or met face-to-face. Through some investigation, Nev was able to find out that Jamison lied about his other careers he mentioned to Sunny, as well as family members. Even though she was warned about this, Sunny still decided to go ahead and meet Jamison. What happened up happening was truly heartbreaking. It turned out that Jamison wasn’t in fact a model or man, but a girl named Chelsea. However, producers and creators of the show argue that not all stories end in heartbreak on the show. Producer of the show Tom Freeman argued that the television series has,"...stories of deception. We've also stumbled into some love stories. We found people who are exactly who they say they are. We are putting those on television, too. We find people who are willing to get past an initial deception and really do make a connection at the end — in person and in real life. That's been really heartwarming. So I think, when we set out, we really don't know how it's going to end: good, bad, or in the middle somewhere.”

            After viewing this television show, I am more inclined to focus my paper on self-identity on the Internet. It’s crazy how people can fall in love on the  Internet and come to find out they have been completely fooled. I’ve attached a clip about the show Catfish: the TV show below!

What I learned from my presentation

              For my presentation, I gave a brief history of why I chose psychology and communication, showed a video on the Social Media Revolution, a summary of a Communication and Psychology study and ended with a brief conclusion and some issues I’ve had so far with research.

            After completing my presentation, I was able to become aware of even more effects that technology has created to a variety of diverse people and demographics. I learned that there are social media sites, specifically for adolescents called Club Penguin and Kidz Bop. These sites are designed for younger generations and appear to have more monitoring than Facebook. By recognizing this, I hope to find a study that has monitored the psychological effects this has had on adolescents.

            In addition, classmates brought up the importance that self-esteem has had on women in particular. Women are more critical of themselves and viewing a variety of beautiful people online can affect their personal self-esteem. My classmates gave examples of some psychological studies they’ve read in class that validated this issue as well. Because of this, I may explore the role that gender plays in these social media sites, such as Facebook. Interestingly enough, Facebook started as a “Hot or Not” website.

            My viral video, Social Media Revolution 2011, brought up important issues on adolescents and relationships that my classmates recognized. Classmates suggested that I should further explore youth using other forms of technology, such as iPads.

            With so many options to explore in terms of technology and society, I have yet to decide what to further research. Currently, I’m leaning towards exploring the gender effects of these social media types, and by splitting this through age demographics. I really appreciate the feedback from my classmates because it allowed me to determine even more ideas to research and explore.

Social Media Revolution

            To learn more about social media as a whole, I read a study by Hellekson about this new idea of “Web 2.0,” which focused on the increase of technology and accessibility to media. In particular with digital interactive media, social networks have developed a connection and normality with this particular form of media, unlike any other previous generation. This new platform of communication can be used for a plethora of reasons mainly self-expression to participate in social and recreational activities online. Today, the Internet has gone through a complete transformation because it has the capacity to fulfill countless tasks, mainly with social interaction. This new kind of Internet has been described as Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is described as an “…interactive, networked Web, not a static, read-only Web” (Hellekson 1).

            The Internet has the capacity to spread content throughout the entire world, which is why it is such a powerful medium. In fact, renowned scholar Herbert McLuhan was famous for stating that the “medium in the message.” He argued that the medium controls everything from how widely it’s distributed to how we consume the media. In this particular case, the medium is social networks, predominantly Facebook. After being created in 2004, by 2007 Facebook was reported to have more than 21 million registered members generating 1.6 billion page views each day. These numbers are clear evidence of the social networks significant impact. In addition, a 2007 study on Facebook found that a typical user spends roughly 20 minutes a day on the site, and two-thirds of users log in at least once a day. Media users constantly use social networks like Facebook to keep friends, family and even sometimes strangers updated, multiple times a day. The accessibility of Facebook and other social networks on smart phones has only added to the necessity of becoming a member of a social network.

            In addition to this study, I came across a YouTube video that shared some impressive statistics about the impact social media has on our world today. The video depicts the "Social Media Revolution" that we are currently involved in. To put it simply, Everyone is somehow influenced by the power of the Internet. 

Hellekson, K. ‘Fan studies 101’. SFRA Review 287 (Winter 2009): 5-7.