I was watching the Circle last night and not being use to all these phrases go me thinking. We are all anonymous on here which is great but I wonder how many are truly themselves. I’d never heard of catfish until last night, naively. I have been myself throughout but wonder is this why other members disappear so quickly.
I’ve always been myself on here in terms of what I say.
2 Likes
Oh for sure we’ve had a couple. Sometimes they slip up and reply to their own topics using a second account to follow up. 
As long as the question they ask is (semi)valid, any advice given can be useful to whoever else reads it in the future, so I tend to just treat everyone as if they’re being truthful (unless it starts to get ridiculous ).
3 Likes
Always been myself.
2 Likes
I’ve never been anything other than my true self anywhere. I couldn’t be arsed keeping up a pretence! 
3 Likes
It’s not so much can’t be arsed with me, more I haven’t got the memory to lie or pretend to be someone or something else. I’d keep on slipping up. So what you get is me.
6 Likes
I’m definitely me! Probably too open if I’m honest but that’s me in real life too. I should really learn from my mistakes and keep a little more to myself but that’s me.
4 Likes
I’m not sure many people are going to say ‘yes I’m a catfish’.
Are you a catfish?
- Yes
- No
0 voters
2 Likes
I’d never come across the term catfish before. There was me thinking that it was a rather ugly bottom dwelling fish! 
1 Like
Somehow I knew before I’d even checked that you’d be the one to say yes! @Ian_Chimp 
2 Likes
I’d never heard of it either and had to google it as it kept being mentioned on the programme. There were people being totally different people and even father and daughter someone else. Very strange
1 Like
There’s been show on MTV for a while about people catfishing other people. Have a look it’s really interesting
I am genuinely surprised that people haven’t come across the term before. I thought it was quite ubiquitous, especially with the rise of internet dating/internet safety, etc.
On here there are no risks to it really. You can’t get conned out of your money, or tricked into meeting up with some dangerous rando, etc. I think the few I’ve seen (and there are obviously going to be more that you can’t say for sure) just ask outlandish advice questions for unknown reasons. Maybe attention, maybe some kind of trolling, who knows. But they tend to get really sensible replies on here with some genuinely good advice in, so it all ends up quite positive most of the time.
5 Likes
I know what Catfishing is, but as others have said, i can’t be arsed to pretend i’m something i’m not, and liars eventually slip up.
Then again, there are a lot of gullible people out there. Just look at how many lose money to fake profiles on dating sites.
2 Likes
Yes, i noticed a few, they get polite, serious answers and quietly disappear, probably because they didn’t get the outrage/attention they aimed for.
1 Like
I’m still shocked at the amount of people who are conned out of money on dating sites! I can’t understand why you’d start catfishing on a dating site if your intention is to meet face to face and start a relationship as some of them seem to do the the MTV show. Somehow they think they’ll be able to win the other person round once they explain things! How on earth will that work when they realise the photo you sent them is clearly somebody else and you’re not the person you’re pretending to be?
I do think there’s always going to be a small proportion of people who just get some kick out of trying to shock by asking certain questions but obviously when they don’t get the reaction they’re hoping for they slink off never to be heard of again.
2 Likes
And a lot of the time there’s no real way to tell if its a genuine question or not to start with. I think it’s much better to answer normally (or keep scrolling) than to challenge someone, as I’d much rather answer a fake question with real advice than accidentally accuse a real person of being a liar.
But even with members who contribute more frequently I still take everyone at face value. If it turns out @Peitho is really a fish in a cat costume I don’t think it would spoil the fun I’ve had doing the Rebus quizzes. 
2 Likes
True! I’d certainly rather think the best of someone than the worst!
1 Like
I must have led a very sheltered life, i’m not really up on social media / hashtags etc. I think it must be an age thing. I my day you met people in the pub, club, social event and what you saw is what you got. It must be so hard for youngsters now.
2 Likes
I think a lot of kids are quite savvy now, and a lot are taught these skills before even being allowed on the internet (because of pedos), so hopefully are much more aware.
But con artists/liars have always existed, this is just a new flavour.