Recently, I've been obsessed with the show Catfish:The TV Show. I love it! For those who have not seen it, it follows two guys names Nev and Max who are out to help people who have met over the Internet.
I think the show is great, not only for those involved, who usually get answers to their long term relationships, but to everyone else. Those of us who frequently use social networking sites tend to forget the dangers. When I was younger I remember it being told all the time that chat rooms were extremely dangerous, and it made me and others rather scared. These days I see less of these warnings, maybe because I am an adult now but either way there should be more awareness as to online safety.
A lot of the people on the show end up finding out that the people they've loved or cared for for years via the Internet are far from what they had been perceived as or told. This happens more than people may think. So many people create fake accounts- whether it in a malicious way or just for personal jokes etc. Either way making fake accounts and profiles has become more common and extremely easy. And I'm not going to have a go at those youngsters who jokingly make fake accounts for what they assume is harmless fun- sometimes people make them but don't use them, and not all people use them badly e.g. fan pages! I seem to remember myself and a friend making a page purely for the fact we wanted to make up funny passwords and stuff (don't worry we never used the profile). So that just goes to show how mundane fake profiles have become. And sometimes kids and teens don't see them as hurtful or dangerous but almost as a simulated persona (like The Sims).
The point of this post is really just to let people know that there is ALWAYS danger on the Internet and they should be careful who they speak to and what they say. If you've been speaking to someone you don't know, there is no harm in searching for them to see if they are legitimate or not.
Also if you're thinking about making a fake profile, for whatever reason, even if it's just for a 'joke' just think before you do it. It's not a good idea!
Safety is key.
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