venerdì 12 aprile 2013

False identities on Social Networks, a dangerous trend. Catfish, the new MTV Show. By Guglielmo Ferrazzano


Through years, people have seen the rapid growth of social networks and if their attitude in the beginning was suspicious and detached about this new communication instruments, now in 2013, 50% of world population has a virtual account. But, there is a phenomenon that every day can threaten you, your friends and everyone that uses the web to communicate. The danger is called “False Account” and it is considered a joke or a stalking instrument.

Years ago, a false profile was the symbol of an unreal identity or an stolen one, a trend for young people to entertain themselves on MSN messenger, MySpace, Badoo, Netlog, and the early version of Facebook.
But sociologists and psychologists warned web surfers about risks linked in creating a false profiles or being teased by false wonderful blonde girls or muscular Baywatch boys.

Starting from the consideration that creating a false profile and steal images of real people, information from the web is literally ILLEGAL, the phenomenon has become unstoppable and hard to fight. To find out if a person on the web is in reality another one is very simple: a manager of a false profile will EVER search you for a chat; he will, every time, try to know something new about yourself and your life and he will refuse every form of real contact (calls, or a date); He will set a false place of birth and other information will be of course false.

Someone prefers to use as personals images, photos taken from the web and easily traceable on Google.
Flowers, panoramas and city screenshots are the most used according to psychologists.
Simple! But the most important thing is to understand why the phenomenon has grown.
Well… Everyone has once in his life managed or used for a while a false account to play with someone, maybe a friend.
I have done it too! But joking is funny and harmless, for other people it can be a weapon.

More than the risk of being confident with an unknown person; pedophiles and cyber criminals are interested in getting something from you!

I want to share the consideration about a new MTV’s show called “Catfish: False identities”. A crew of specialists in communication will search the real identity of false profiles managers on the web, and when the impostor is find out, they will make some questions to understand why he has managed (in some cases for years) a false profile. Someone, during the interview, said that he made it to mask his sexual reference. Other people said: “ I made it for fun” and some one else shown is interest in building a new identity because his life was full of problems. A new trend, more powerful than alcohol or drugs to escape from real life. And at last someone confessed that his false profile was built to catch news of someone loved and never approached.
Some cases have relations in the unconscious sphere of the young impostors. Others are just a way of spending time. The show is particularly original and made not only to study and unveil false identities, but also to help those peoples to use internet in an healthy and solve their problems.

If you are interested in study and see with your yes examples of false identities and related consequences, spend one hour of your time on Sunday afternoon in front the TV watching “Catfish: false identities”, on MTV at 6:30 PM or http://ondemand.mtv.it/serie-tv/catfish-false-identita

For comments, questions or just sharing your experience if had one about false identities, contact us! 

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