Question about cat fishing

Magna-Carta said:
Catfishers on this forum are few and far between. Mostly, I don't think they dare show their faces, as our Seniors will identify them in seconds and pounce on them within minutes. The Seniors we have here are fearless and take no prisoners.

Catfishers on this forum are so rare that they have almost reached mythical status. When they do show up, it’s usually on a Sunday after Evensong. The rest of the week, they are otherwise engaged -- to someone on another forum who didn’t see them coming.

Most of them aren’t all that bright, and we can usually spot them a mile off before they have even turned up.
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"The Seniors we have here are fearless and take no prisoners." You got that right!
 
I saw this commercial for the first time tonight:


I immediately thought of this thread as well as the other recent thread asking "Are you hot or not?":D
 
So, I've fallen down a rabbit hole watching scenes from the show, Catfish, on YouTube. I watched this show before and here's the thing I cannot understand about catfishing. How, (or maybe why), does the person doing the catfishing "feel" the emotions from the person they are pretending to?

The thing is that the catfish is creating a fake person and "piloting" that fake persona. The attention, love and affection coming back is not for them, the person behind the fake persona. It's the made-up person the other is in love with, not the catfish. So where's the benefit?

I know there must be benefit because people do it, but I'm having trouble making the connection there.
 
Medusa said:
So, I've fallen down a rabbit hole watching scenes from the show, Catfish, on YouTube. I watched this show before and here's the thing I cannot understand about catfishing. How, (or maybe why), does the person doing the catfishing "feel" the emotions from the person they are pretending to?

The thing is that the catfish is creating a fake person and "piloting" that fake persona. The attention, love and affection coming back is not for them, the person behind the fake persona. It's the made-up person the other is in love with, not the catfish. So where's the benefit?

I know there must be benefit because people do it, but I'm having trouble making the connection there.
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I don't know the answer, of course, but my first thought was that they're bored and it gives them something to fill up their time and thoughts???

Or that they don't notice the difference between the other one being in love with the fake persona, instead of with them?

Their self concept gets blurred with the other i.d.?

Or perhaps the answer to your conundrum, 😉😄

It's that you're trying to attach a rational explanation/reason to something that isn't rational???😊🤣🥰

We probably have a natural inclination to do so, in many scenarios, especially as we observe others behaviors. ?☺️
 
Kaila said:
Their self concept gets blurred with the other i.d.?
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Ooo, that's a really good insight; I hadn't considered that.

Kaila said:
It's that you're trying to attach a rational explanation/reason to something that isn't rational???😊🤣🥰
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That's very possible, @Kaila. Maybe that's the point, it's not rational behavior to begin with so it follows that the resultant feelings are also not rational.
 
Medusa said:
So, I've fallen down a rabbit hole watching scenes from the show, Catfish, on YouTube. I watched this show before and here's the thing I cannot understand about catfishing. How, (or maybe why), does the person doing the catfishing "feel" the emotions from the person they are pretending to?
Click to expand...
Unless I'm misunderstanding what you're asking, I'm thinking there are no "feelings/emotions" involved. Doesn't it usually end up with the faker coming up with stories to ask for money? Promises of getting together, and then all kinds of need for money before that can happen? The lure is very often for fraudulent reasons, so no emotions involved.
 
CallMeKate said:
Unless I'm misunderstanding what you're asking, I'm thinking there are no "feelings/emotions" involved. Doesn't it usually end up with the faker coming up with stories to ask for money? Promises of getting together, and then all kinds of need for money before that can happen? The lure is very often for fraudulent reasons, so no emotions involved.
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That does happen, yes. But actually, I've found from watching seasons of this show, a lot of the "catfish" are people who want genuine attachment and connection with others. It's a mixed bag, really.

It's the ones that get in "love" relationships and stay in them for sometimes years, under a fake persona, that I'm wondering about. How they are getting what they need when the love and attention is for their created character.

@Kaila had some good insights about this in that it's not really rational behavior in the first place so logical thinking maybe doesn't apply here.
 

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