I think the internet is mankind's greatest invention. It just absolutely blows my mind at the things we can do with it. I am never here for people who try to demonize it or that always groans about how we have "forgotten how to 'actually' talk to people." Technology is amazing, and what we've gained is so so worth whatever we've supposedly lost. I think it's a bit like complaining that we've forgotten how to start a fire since we started using electricity.
Social media especially is one incredibly powerful tool that we have created. I know the word "slacktivism" gets thrown around like it's so awful, but you know what, at least they know. Getting the information is one huge battle to win. Ferguson was talked about on twitter before it was picked up by the "real news." It makes one hell of a difference. We have a way to communicate, to organize, to get together. We no longer need to TV stations to validate our cause. We can talk back.
So when it comes to getting "catfished", well, that's where any good tool can get used incorrectly. Does it suck? Yeah, probably. There's no way of really, truly knowing what is real on the other side of the screen. That's a bit terrifying (especially since growing up we were all told that the person on the side was most definitely a pedophile), but I don't know. I personally love talking to people online. I do it anonymously, and usually in forums where there's a topic to talk about. Maybe tons of people are lying to me all the time, but it's easier for me to be completely honest with strangers than it is with people I have to see every day. Either way, I always feel like I learn a lot from them. I get to see a lot of different points of views, and it just amazes me that I could literally be talking to someone from halfway around the world. Maybe they're secretly a creeper, true, but I'm talking to anotehr human being that I would never in a million years would've talked to without the internet or social media. That's pretty damn incredible.
Thalia, I agree with the fact that the internet is a great tool that has benefited us in many ways then not. The fact that people "Catfish" is not anything new. I remember reading about how people used to exchange correspondence with strangers in jails and in foreign countries. It might have taken a little bit longer for the romance, drama and the discovery of the deception to unfold but it's the same underlying concept. My point is that the internet is not the fundamental cause for "Catfishing", however human behavior and our insecurities deserve a bigger part of the blame.
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