Close your eyes and imagine this; you’re sitting in a room with one other person next to you and you’re having a conversation. You can see this person’s eyes, watch their facial expressions, hear their voice and see what color their hair and eyes are and their height. Sounds normal right?
Now, instead imagine sitting in a room with one other person next to you, except for this time, you two are separated by a giant black blanket and you are wearing ear plugs. The only way you can communicate is by sliding a piece of paper under the blanket. You can’t hear this person’s voice; you can’t see what color this person’s hair is, in fact, you can’t even figure out whether this person is a female or male. All you can do is read the words they wrote on the paper.
The strange part about all this is that, in today’s world, this kind of communication is normal. With social media like Facebook and texting dominating the way we are interacting with one another, it is almost unnecessary to speak to someone face to face.
Social media has truly made the world a “smaller place”. You are able to communicate with someone in another city, state or country, with just a few clicks on your mouse and keyboard. However, like most things, this is only half the story. Social media has also caused a major loss of in person communication and even more a loss of social skills. Some people are no longer leaving their homes to form friendships and relationships. Instead, just staying at home and making friends on line. However, who you meet on line isn’t always who they seem.
Last Wednesday, October 30th, Yaniv Schulman or “Nev” as people call him, visited FIU as part of SPC’s lecture series. This producer, actor and filmmaker truly knows firsthand that a relationship with someone you meet online can be more than what meets the eye! He is well known for his documentary, Catfish, in which he stars as the main character. The documentary takes you through the story of how he fell in love with a girl he met on line. However his love story comes crashing down when, in reality, the girl of his dreams is nothing like the women she claimed to be. Today, he is the host and executive producer of Cat Fish: The TV Show on MTV. On the show, he helps other people find out the truth behind their online lovers.
As college students, this is something that can happen to us, especially as young women! So here are some tips to protecting yourself from being fooled and trapped into someone else’s web of lies:
- Stay away from relationships with strangers online. Remember the annoying phrase you’re parents used to say, “Don’t talk to strangers!”
- Look up the person’s name and photo on Google to see if there are any other people with the same name or photo.
- Be conscious of any suspicious behavior like not wanting to talk on the phone, webcam, or meeting in person. Also be on the lookout for inconsistencies. Be like those detectives you see on TV!