About
Catfish is a slang term used to describe someone who assumes false accounts on social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter for the sake of developing online relationships with strangers or pretending to be in a relationship.
Origin
The term catfish originated from the 2010 documentary film[5] of the same name. Directed by Ariel Schulman[1] and Henry Joost[2], Catfish follows the story of Schulman’s brother, Yaniv “Nev” Schulman[3], as he develops an online relationship with Megan Pierce, a girl he meets through her younger sister Abby. As the documentary progresses, it is revealed that Megan Nev is a fake identity based on a woman in rehabilitation and assumed by Megan’s mother, Angela.
Catfish Effect
The title of the documentary was inspired by a trade practice among Norwegian fishermen who added a single catfish into the tank of live sardines or cod in order to keep their stock physically active and fresh while in transportation. The lore is also told in the film by Vince, who compares Angela to the role of catfish that keeps others active in life. Furthermore, a method known as the Catfish Effect has been applied in human resources to motivate a team by optimizing the distribution of competition among colleagues.
Spread
On July 22nd, 2010, “catfish,” as it is used in this context, was first added to Urban Dictionary, defining it as “someone who pretends to be someone they’re not using Facebook or other social media to create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive online romances.” The usage of the term likely faded away after a few months, but grew in popularity slightly two years later with the premiere of an MTV series based on the premise of the film in November 2012.
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