Catfish: The Untold Story of Facebook By Maddie Hoover, Hannah Teklits, Ethan Eshbach
Maddie: Catfish and the Use of Social Media
Social networks are changing human interactions in a way that was previously inconceivable. Our ideas of friendships, romantic relationships, privacy, and even our own identities are transforming through our use of New Media technology. In the film Catfish (2010, Joosh and Schulman), the protagonists are faced with such issues as they traverse the frontier of online relationships. They quickly learn that people often aren’t how they portray themselves on Facebook, something that I have also found to be true. The film raises questions about the importance of an ethical use of social networks and the implications that can follow when used for other intentions. Catfish reveals the complicated nature of Internet relations and gives us a glimpse into our increasingly computer-mediated futures.
In the past, the majority of our relationships were conducted face-to-face. Aside from letters and phone calls, you had to set aside time to meet with those who were important to you. Now with the push of a button, you can converse with friends across the world in Hungary, or Skype in to a conference call in Australia. However, the most interesting aspect of online communication is the ability to engage in relationships with complete strangers without ever having to meet them. In Catfish, we watch as Nev forms friendships with Abby, Angela, and Megan Wessleman through Facebook. While he has never met them, he is able to surmise details about their lives from their profile pages and through his online interactions with them.
Social networks have changed the meaning of friendship; we no longer have to physically interact to consider ourselves friends. Nev feels a close connection with the Wessleman family from their online encounters. They chat, send each other songs, and post on one another’s profiles, essentially the fundamental building blocks of a social network relationship. However, computer mediated relationships have recently been criticized by communication scholars. According to communication researchers Reich, Subrahmanyam, and Espinoza, “Because interactions that occur via a screen often lack face-to-face cues such as gestures, gaze, voice, and other body language cues, online communication may be less rich than traditional face-to-face interactions.” (Reich, Subrahmanyam, Espinoza, 357) In Catfish, we can see Nev’s desire to interact with the Wessleman family in person after months of communication through Facebook and phone calls. While Internet connections can often satisfy immediate desires, ultimately we still crave physical interactions.
The documentary also reveals the ease of forming romantic relationships online, as Nev and Megan begin to show interest in one another. Their daily exchanges through Facebook and texting make them feel as though they are a normal couple. Yet again, we see their desire to have a physical encounter because their social network interface does not provide enough intimacy. Journalist Allen Freeman questions, “Is friending actually creating and supporting more true friendships? Or rather are we addicted to something that approximates real connection but is actually very mediated and done only alone?” (Freeman, 1). Our friendships and romantic relationships that take place online may end up leaving us to crave more, as was the case for Nev and Megan.
The documentary also reveals the ease of forming romantic relationships online, as Nev and Megan begin to show interest in one another. Their daily exchanges through Facebook and texting make them feel as though they are a normal couple. Yet again, we see their desire to have a physical encounter because their social network interface does not provide enough intimacy. Journalist Allen Freeman questions, “Is friending actually creating and supporting more true friendships? Or rather are we addicted to something that approximates real connection but is actually very mediated and done only alone?” (Freeman, 1). Our friendships and romantic relationships that take place online may end up leaving us to crave more, as was the case for Nev and Megan.
When Nev decides that it is finally time to have a face-to-face encounter with the Wessleman family, we begin to learn that not everyone portrays an accurate description of themselves on Facebook. Nev quickly ascertains the truth; the Wessleman family is really just one woman acting as multiple identities. A social network allowed her to create her own fantasy world where she was able to pretend to be different people. Social networking sites make it easy for people to pick and choose what aspects of themselves they want to highlight and what they want to hide. And in extreme cases, it allows people to create completely new versions of themselves, something they cannot do in the tangible world.
In my experience, there have been several times that I have been surprised by how different a person is from the way they portray themselves online. This usually occurs when someone sends me a “friend request” before we meet, and the person’s profile leads me to view her inaccurately; then when I see her in person, I notice the differences from what she’s posted on Facebook. This brings me to the question of where the notion of ethics belongs in the social media realm. I would argue it is wrong to trick someone into believing things about you that aren’t true in real life. Nev certainly feels hurt and betrayed when he comes to the realization that he was talking to people that don’t exist in the real world. We shouldn’t be allowed to use social networks as a platform to deceive others, especially when we’ve never met the other person. This could have dangerous implications when involving exchanges between children and adults, or even just between an adult and another vulnerable adult. We should seek to express the truth both on and offline.
Catfish reveals the complexity of relationships in the 21st century. We no longer have to meet people in person; we can gain friendships without ever having to walk out our door. However, as we have seen, these friendships may not be as fulfilling as valuable face-to-face interaction. Additionally, it can also lead to confusion when we learn the differences between people’s virtual and real life personalities. It is important to remember that leading an ethical lifestyle applies to all relationships, regardless of whether they occur in person or not. Catfish shows that while computer mediated relationships are on the rise, we may always need our face-to-face connections in order to maintain friendships with depth and truth.
Hannah: How Facebook Redefined Friendship
Before social media, friendship was a personal relationship that required at least some physical interaction. However, networking sites like MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook have changed that. Now, friendship is something that can exist purely through disembodied interaction mediated by social media. Despite this trend, there is still a longing for human interaction in friendship, due partly to the human desire to know and be known. Difficulties are presented when people try to know their Facebook friends despite how the Internet allows for the creation of a fabricated self. The movie Catfish clearly demonstrates these ideas.
In Catfish, Angela is striving to create relationships in her life and desires to feel loved and cared for. She uses Facebook as a tool to escape and to establish relationships. Because the profile she created of herself was fabricated, she does all that she can to avoid embodied interaction. Nev, on the other hand, deeply desires human interaction in his relationship with Angela’s family, especially her attractive imaginary daughter, Megan. He does all that he can to visit them and becomes frustrated when his plans do not work out.
A bit part of the reason physical social interaction is so important to Nev is sexual, but there are also other aspects of face-to-face contact that appeal to him on a fundamental level. Online, there is so much opportunity to fabricate the image of oneself. Whether it is done consciously or unconsciously, the careful construction of words and images that display the user are often a misrepresentation of the user’s true personality. Even if a social media profile is closer to the person who created it, there is usually an exaggeration of positive qualities while negative qualities are either minimized or suppressed. Perhaps Nev realized that in order for him to truly know Angela, and in order for Angela to truly know him, face-to-face communication was required.
In an age of texting and Facebook chatting, there are ways for those who struggle with embodied social interaction to be in relationship without it. The problem, however, is that these virtual interactions fail to fulfill basic relational needs. The idea of physical communication still strikes a vital cord in humans. The film asks the question, “How well do we really know our Facebook friends?” In this case, the obvious answer is, “Not very well.” But could that be the answer in every case? Imagine the high school senior, adding Facebook friends from their future college in late summer. After arriving on campus, they see another young person in the cafeteria. “Ah yes, I know him. We are friends on Facebook!” Based on the Facebook site, they share mutual likes and interests, even a similar major. However, upon closer examination, the student finds that the Facebook site was a complete misrepresentation of the other person, and the two are not similar at all.
It is obvious that there is more to “knowing” someone than the definition which Facebook advertises. While it may not necessarily be purposeful, the mask of the Internet allows one to be what they want to be rather than what they are. Angela is a prime example of this. On Facebook, she is allowed to be young, beautiful, and free; of course, her real life differs from that. While contriving a personality as a means of escape is not necessarily a negative outlet, creating a friend-base off one does not line up with what friendship should be.
One has to look at the popularity role-playing games have had for years to see the truth in the idea that a fabricated self could be a useful escape. However, there is something about the idea of using social media sites to create this escapism that strikes one as ironic. Perhaps it is due to the fact that friendship, in the true sense of the word, should be a way for one to express his or her true self without manipulation of reality. Friendship takes on a new meaning when put into the context of social media. In Catfish, even the first conflict Nev and Angela face in their relationship is mediated by social media, with Nev carefully casting and recasting sentences while getting input from his friends on which words to use. When social networks mediate relationships, they become completely controllable. One can spend five minutes attempting to craft one sentence, which is an unreasonable thing to do when socializing face-to-face. If so much time is spent creating one’s image, how accurate can it be?
There are many difficulties when trying to navigate the new media idea of friendship and relationship. It is difficult to ensure that relationships are based on the accuracy required in knowing and being known by the other party. But this does not mean friendships created or sustained by social media are unhealthy. In fact, Facebook can impact relationships in many positive ways. It is important to supplement online relationships with real life relationships, as the value of a face-to-face relationship cannot be overestimated.
Ethan: Facebook vs. the Internet, the New Catch-22
Almost everything has changed since the dawn of the Internet. Things get done faster, information is transferred with little delay, and long-distance communication is more convenient. Facebook, a child of the Internet and Digital Age, has also changed the world in a drastic way. Relationships are no longer built upon face-to-face meetings. Rather, they flourish via online interactions, as is the case with Catfish. Yet Facebook and the Internet clash in a very unique way. While the Internet delivers immediate satisfaction, Facebook prides itself in creating suspense.
Nev uses the Internet to chase down the false identities created by Angela. He finds the YouTube videos she ripped to paint her daughter Megan as a wonderful pianist. He uses Google Maps to find the house where Megan supposedly lives. All of the questions that can be answered using the Internet are located within a matter of minutes. The Internet was a natural New Medium for Nev to choose because he, like many people today, grew up with the Internet, and he knows how to use it to its full potential. The Internet has become an extension of the digital generation, because the world’s knowledge is at everybody’s fingertips.
Having hasty access to the world’s knowledge creates an addiction to immediacy. The suspenseful and drawn-out narrative created by Schulman and Joost in Catfish was almost too much for me. While viewing the film, I wanted so badly to reach into my pocket, pull out my iPhone, and read about the ending of the film before it was actually over. I could have easily done it. Yet the stimulating nature of the suspenseful narrative was extremely satisfying, and kept me from actually doing it. It was a catch-22.
I admit that I am addicted to New Media. But aren’t we all? The people featured in Catfish certainly are. It is natural for those of us born into the digital generation to want to experience immediacy in everything that we do. Like Nev, we cannot wait for things to pan out. We feel the need to go searching for the answers. Waiting is hard and even impossible to do. So why is Nev satisfied with text messaging and emailing when those media make him wait for responses from Megan?
Are people in the Digital Age willing to sacrifice face-to-face relationships and immediacy for synthetic relationships? After all, as proven in Catfish, it is incredibly easy to represent yourself as anyone in the world in order to satisfy a relational need. Sometimes, the suspense that lingers in the air around slower conversational media like Facebook is stimulating. It creates excitement and drives us to be more engaged in the relationship. Maybe that is why Nev and Megan’s online communication allows their relationship to rapidly grow. But at the same time, Facebook blocks Nev and Megan from experiencing real, productive interactions. Another catch-22.
Facebook serves as a medium for low-level, low-interaction, two-way communication for Nev and his friends. The Internet acts as a medium for immediate problem solving. Because our generation is used to the low-level, low-interaction communication that comes with Facebook, Nev accepts the suspense that accompanies it, and even basks in its stimulation. However, when curiosity calls for higher levels of communication, Nev and other members of our generation scurry to solve the problem using the Internet because the suspense is just too much. As we rush to solve problems immediately, however, we lose the stimulation that is achieved through personal, more real communication.
In Catfish, Nev and his friends are not able to reconcile the differences between the immediacy of the Internet and the suspenseful nature of Facebook. The only solution to their problem was engaging in real, face-to-face communication with Angela. A higher frequency of communication was required, proving that humans cannot be satisfied with the low-level communication sewn into the fabric of Facebook. But is the day coming when that reconciliation is possible? Will we someday be able to satisfy our every relational need via online interactions?
Catfish outlines the ultimate catch-22 of the digital age. Though the Internet gives us quick, up-to-date information about anything we want to know, it also hosts outlets such as Facebook that satisfy our needs by creating slow, stimulating suspense. The clash between the two, though pungent, is surprisingly enticing and palatable. It is this discontinuity that draws the digital generation to the narcotic New Media.
Works Cited
Freeman, Allen. "Friends In The Age Of Facebook." American Scholar 80.2 (2011): 14. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 May 2012.
Reich, Stephanie M., Kaveri Subrahmanyam, and Guadalupe Espinoza. "Friending, Iming, And Hanging Out Face-To-Face: Overlap In Adolescents' Online And Offline Social Networks." DevelopmentalPsychology 48.2 (2012): 356-368. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 May 2012.