I've not seen the movie, don't intend to, either. I've known about sock puppets for decades. This is just a personal version of sock puppet from what I can see.
I was making a point, I thought, about the impossibility of us knowing whom others in our online lives may actually be (or not be)… what do we really know about each other? Can I really know you are the actual Mike Palij of New York University, or some dunderhead that is using his persona and that the real Mike Palij of New York University is either ignorant of this deception or does not care about it… can you prove it? Can I? Paul On Jan 21, 2013, at 10:53 AM, Mike Palij wrote: > I really must ask this question of Paul: > > Have you seen the movie "Catfish"? > > If you did, then nothing you say below makes any sense. > Being "Carfished" is not about having a long-term relationship > on the internet and never meeting the person you've been in > contact with -- this has been happening since the origins of > the internet/arpanet 40 years ago. When the internet/arpanet > first began, with its origins in the Department of Defense > sponsored research projects at universities and business, > everyone with an internet account had to "known", that is, > the person's access to the internet/arpanet had to be > justified, real identities and affiliations had to be provided > (how else would one know who to complain to if a person > abused their internet *privileges*), and netiquette had > been developed as a social contract for people. Someone > with a *.edu address or a *.com address (e.g., Sun computer > company) or a *.gov address (e.g., NASA's facilities) > had to be identifiable, especially if that person abused their > account which was interpreted as misuse of federal or > commercial resources. > > Being "Catfished" is comparable to trying to use the > dating services on the internet where the pictures and information > one provided about oneself can be wildly at odds with the actual > person. What makes the "Catfish" situation different from the > dating/relationship service is that one expects to eventually meet > the other person -- the dating service acts as a "go-between". > This, too, has a long tradition on the internet. > > The point behind "Catfish" is having someone create a persona > for a person that does not exist, that is, promoting a fraud. > One is never going to meet the "person" that they have developed > the relationship because typically that person does not exist. > In the movie "Catfish", the persona was based on a family member > that had stopped having contact with the family years before > (however, the picture used for the female was not one of her but > of a model found on the web, similar to the Te'o situation). > In one story about a "Catfish" exploit, the female was being made > up by a male (I referred to this in a previous post, here's the story again: > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/15/catfish-the-tv-show-wants-to-be-woman-video_n_2476640.html > ) > > On the old internet/arpanet system, being a "Catfish" was a very > difficult thing to do especially since there were very few private internet > service providers (ISPs) and they were policed by the rest of the internet > community (e.g., Netcom which Earthlink bought out). Long time internet > users will remember the "Green card" spamming of Canter and Siegel > as the "official" death of the old internet and the birth of the "new" > internet > where all sorts of crap could be gotten away with. > > Fast forward to the 2000's, we have the development of social media > services which promote a "Too Much Information" tendency on the > part of way too many people and, because there are limited means to > verify the identities of people (unless one has the skills and/or time and/or > money to verify whether the person they are communicating with is in > fact the person they say they are), it has become way too easy to create > fake personas that, like Joseph Weizenbaum's computer program "Eliza", > that make one believe they are dealing with real people (for more on "Eliza" > see the Wikipedia entry: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA ) > Weizenbaum, back in the 1960s, showed how easy it was to fool someone > into thinking that they were dealing with a "real" person (which also showed > how wildly off the "Turing test" was) with a simple text based interface. > Today, we have pictures, blogs, twitter, and so on, all that can be used to > not > only create the illusion that actual person have characteristics that they > don't > have but to create fictitious people that can lure others into believing that > they > really, really exist. > > In closing, I'm not sure what Paul wrote below has to do with "Catfishing" > but seems to think it does. I wonder if we can get a clarification. > > -Mike Palij > New York University > [email protected] > > > ------- Original Message --------- > On Sun, 20 Jan 2013 19:44:17 -0800, Paul C Bernhardt wrote: > > I have online relationships with people whom I've never met in person, and > that's beyond the many people here on TIPS that I've never met. > I've been friends, online mainly, with a group of about 5 currently, but about > 15 at its peak. The group started in 1995 as a group of like-minded refugees > from AOL's Court TV OJ Simpson murder trial discussion boards. Of that group, > I've met 4 (three in the Chicago area, one in the Reno area). None of them > made > it romantic, though one came close to turning that way in the early years. She > was in Iowa. They range in professions from attorney (several), nurse, > advertising executive, New York City bicycle delivery clerk, professor of > physics. etc. I believe all of them that I've not personally met are 'real but > I've no proof beyond my 18 years of virtual daily email communication via our > list serve and the fact that at some point everyone has been personally met by > at least one other person. We've had deaths, sent flowers to each other for > weddings, funerals, to help with emergencies (one Illinois friend's house was > leveled by a tornado, another was out of work a very long time and needed > money > to keep her house payment up, another's son was being tried in some bizarre > drug case and needed money for lawyers. We all pitched in and never have > doubted the reality of these folks. We've received baby clothes from some, a > spray of flowers at my father's funeral (he became a member of the group in > the > early 2000s) from the group. we know about wins and losses in each other's > lives like any good friends should. > > If I'm being Catfished, it's been a long con for sure! LOL! > > ------- Original Message --------- > On Jan 20, 2013, at 6:27 PM, Musselman, Robin wrote: > Last semester in my Social Psychology class we had a huge discussion about > catfishing and quite frankly I was initially dumbstruck - and I guess that was > my reaction to how could some of these folks be struck so dumb! :-) > > Anyway, the thing that I find distressing is that this seems to me to be one > more way that young people are putting it all out there. What I mean, is they > each try to outdo each other sharing things that back in my day you would try > to hide...and this is just one more way to put themselves in front of cameras > and the world. It reminds me of the people on YouTube who post their return > from EVERY shopping trip, chronicling each purchase. WHO CARES? They do, > evidently and they have others who watch and must care as well. > > If you have never watched Catfish on MTV - you will probably be stunned as > well. > > BTW, in my class of 30, at least 10 have on line relationships (some > considered > to be "romantic") and they have never met the person. Some of the folks on > Catfish live less than 5 minutes away and never meet. > > Go figure.... > > Robin (showing my age, I guess) > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13441.4e79e96ebb5671bdb50111f18f263003&n=T&l=tips&o=23203 > or send a blank email to > leave-23203-13441.4e79e96ebb5671bdb50111f18f263...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. 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