Faking it on Social Media

Faking it on Social Media

                When it came to our discussion on “faking it” on social media I slightly tuned out, I knew people faked it on social media. Hell, even I untag photos I don’t look awesome in, while I upload as many good photos of me as possible. In that way I am a faker, and I presumed that was the extent of “faking it” that people took it to. If that wasn't faking it enough I know people make parody accounts of celebrities, or funny twitters like “Bad Luck Brian”. But honestly, that was as far as I thought people took it.

                The night I learned that this wasn't true was October 15^th (I looked all the way back to when I initially tweeted about it just to be accurate). I decided to watch a film suggested to me by a friend, Catfish. It started off seemingly normal. Girl sends a guy a painting she did based off one of his photographs, they begin touching base online. Guy then falls in love with girl’s sister; there relationship is completely based on online conversations, and phone calls. (While this is all happening Nev’s, the guy, brother is filming) Thinks start to get rocky when Nev starts to figure out the girl isn't whom she seems. They eventually go to meet her, only to learn that she doesn't even exist. The person Nev has been talking to is actually a 40 year old woman, who has created this profile and about 15 other profiles attached to it.

                When this bombshell was first dropped in this movie I was initially kind of angry, wondering why this women was crazy enough to do this. Then I became sad, because this woman is so unhappy with her life that she has to create totally different ones to live through. I believe that social media has opened the window for these people to fake everything in their lives. They no longer have to be who they are, but someone else they instantly create. It is crazy.

                This movie has recently been turned into a show, its first episode airing last Sunday. Again, a girl goes to meet someone she thought she was in love with, only to meet a complete stranger. People aren't just tagging and untagging photos anymore, they are creating completely different lives.