How Catfishing Your Partner Could Backfire On You

Catfish, Catfishing, Kittenfish

I bet my parents don’t know these terms; I didn’t even know that these terms also exist. I often heard catfishing before, but I didn’t pay much attention until I saw a video on YouTube. 

It was about a video of a vlogger who tried to catfish his girlfriend as a prank. Out of curiosity, I watched it almost to the end of the video.

I won’t write the entire content of the video, but I will summarize it in this post. 

What is catfishing, and where does it originate?

First off, what is catfishing? Catfishing is when a person creates a profile online and pretends to be someone else; using other individual’s identity, could be the name and photos too. 

It has first appeared in a documentary in 2010 called “Catfish” wherein a man fell in love with a girl named “Megan”. But in reality, he was writing the whole time with her mother. 

That video prank

I love vlogs, and I follow some YouTube channels depending on the contents they publish or show. So that was a week ago, I think when I stumbled on this particular prank video. 

The words prank and catfish caught my attention and piqued my curiosity. On a typical day, I don’t naturally spend my time watching this kind of videos; it is like pissing in the wind. 

That video shows a guy pranking his girlfriend to test if she would cheat. Oh, okay, somebody has an issue here, I thought so while I watched it unfold.

I don’t even find his idea refreshing, and it bugs me that a lot of people enjoy watching it. Testing your partner, although it’s for the prank’s sake, is not a good idea, and people shouldn’t follow it.

How did he catfish his girlfriend?

After creating a new Instagram account and stealing another identity, he wrote his unsuspecting girlfriend, who eventually responded.

What has irked me more when he freaked out when the girl responded. Well, that’s actually when the fun starts, and that’s partly the purpose of the prank.

When a girl in a relationship replies somebody doesn’t mean she’s cheating or that she’s not even allowed to do that.

She can be trying to be polite and who knows what one wants. But this guy on the video doesn’t seem to understand the language of women so well.

I could even tell the girl wasn’t interested in writing with another guy or having a little chitchat with somebody aside from her boyfriend based on her responses.

But when this catfishing boyfriend asks where she is or what she’s doing, he even freaked out more after learning her answer because his girlfriend answered she’s with her BF.

Even the viewers commented and explained it to him what’s the deal with the answer.

And this is my opinion

She wrote that to say indirectly, she’s not interested, and already in a relationship and she’s with her BF although he’s not even there with her, to tell nicely, back off. It’s as bright as the sky!

But the catfishing boyfriend didn’t get it! He even thought she has a boyfriend #2! As a watcher and a girl, I find it so frustrating that some guys don’t seem to know these read-between-the-lines messages. 

But he’s lucky; the catfished girlfriend didn’t take the bait. No pun intended. 

The truth is, he was caught red-handed. So much for catfishing your partner. 

How to know if it’s a catfish profile

59% of the world population has access to the Internet and who might know if you’re writing with a real person on Instagram, Facebook, and online dating sites, where catfish profiles are very prevalent. 

Since we discussed this prank video of catfishing a partner, I will use it as a basis on how to tell if it might be your partner catfishing you. 

That gut feeling or intuition

It was not yet proven, but there are theories that women tend to be in harmony with their guts than men. So if you think looking at the profile or how he writes tells you something is off, then you get to be cautious. 

Try to engage in a live conversation

          Catfish profiles use other identities, including photos and names, but they can’t do a live video like FaceTime or Snapchat. If you suspect somebody, invite him for a Facetime conversation or call your boyfriend, he might be sounding tensed if he’s behind the catfishing profile.

Analyze the profile

         You would know if a profile is not legit if it doesn’t have genuine comments or comments from friends. If you see comments or Facebook wall messages from the same individuals over and over again, then it will be worth it checking these profiles too. 

They disappear immediately

         After a few exchanges of messages with a person online, it has suddenly stopped, and you couldn’t find that profile anymore. It would be best if you didn’t wonder anymore, that catfish is ghosting you already. If you suspect it’s your partner, it can be that he got the answer already from testing you. 

Apply the reverse image search

         You can search for the name, it might be helpful, and it will lead you to the valid owner of the identity. If it doesn’t work, you can always turn to Google and apply a reverse image search. Download the suspected photo or screenshot it, and go to Google. Instead of typing a word, click the image photo and upload the saved image you want to search. 

Why and how catfishing your partner could backfire on you and your relationship 

What if she did respond to come-on messages online without her knowing it’s only a test of her faithfulness?

What would you do? Would you accept it? What if she knew it the whole time, and she’s also testing you?

Pranking could be fun, but when your relationship with your partner is at stake here, then you have to think twice.

What if she took the bait and you concluded she’s cheating on you or would cheat in your relationship? Would that make you happy that your test worked?

This pranking can destroy relationships; that’s why I don’t wish to see these pranks on YouTube again.

What if she did show disinterest, and you have proved that she’s faithful through and through, would you have the heart to confess to her that it was you?

We all know, if you catfish your partner to test if she’ll remain loyal, you have the trust issues here. If you even think of doing that, you should better ponder if you love her. If you do, then you wouldn’t even think of testing her.

We haven’t mentioned the consequences of stealing another person’s identity yet. For that, you have to answer to the law for violation and fraudulence.

We have modern technology now, but people tend to stoop lower to achieve things the easy way. One of the reasons for catfishing aside from pranking or testing your partner is to scam unsuspecting people online. Some just wanted to show off and build fame online without using their own identity.

If you want to test your partner, you should better think of the ways to keep her and strengthen your relationship.

I wouldn’t say that I wasted my time watching that prank video since I have also learned a lot from it. If you’re a busy mom or a lady boss, you wouldn’t even think of watching it.

Heck, don’t even start thinking doing that prank video yourself.