Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is sadfishing and how did it originate?
What is sad fishing? Thanks for asking. Since the advent of social media we've gotten used to seeing highlight reels of people's lives on our news feeds. But in recent years people have been more and more willing to share posts about moments of sadness rather than acting like everything's perfect all the time.
Is it more authentic or simply another veiled form of attention seeking and like hunting? The practice has been labelled sad fishing
How was the term created?
Back in January 2019, Kendall Jenner's mother Kris Jenner posted on Instagram that her daughter was about to reveal a deep secret and praised her for her bravery.
Chapter 2: How has sadfishing evolved on social media over time?
The announcement was set for a few days later. Kendall fans were worried, fearing the worst. Was she going to share a Me Too story or details of struggles with mental health? As it turned out, it was all part of a marketing campaign the influencer was running with skincare brand Proactiv.
Okay, so the acne problems she experienced as a teenager were no doubt unpleasant, but people felt misled by the anticlimactic announcement. Shortly afterwards, British journalist Rebecca Reid came up with the term sadfishing in an article for the Metro to describe what the Jenners had done.
How widespread is sadfishing then?
If you go back to early social media days, it was somewhat rare. In 2007, Britney Spears superfan Chris Crocker posted a YouTube video of himself tearfully pleading with the world to leave Britney alone in response to criticism being aimed at his idol. The young American was widely derided for being overly dramatic in order to boost his own fame.
But nowadays the practice is indeed widespread among celebs, influencer wannabes and average Joes alike. Three years on from Kris Jenner's post, another form of sad fishing has been going viral on TikTok of late. Many users have been posting crying selfies, showing themselves in tears in photos and videos, with sad music playing in the background.
Indeed, it's often the case that sad videos create the most engagement among web users. The hashtags Breakup and Cry each have around 15 billion views on TikTok. Meanwhile Snapchat even added a filter which shows you crying on demand.
Are we saying it's all about getting more likes then?
It's impossible to know for sure as you're not in the head of the person posting. Public displays of distress are often a form of attention seeking to some extent, especially if you see the video has clearly been packaged for social media posting. We may feel like the user is trying to manipulate us or play with our emotions.
It's a little like the boy who cried wolf fable when you think about it. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. But there may also be a genuine call for help behind this need to sadfish. And we should remember that it's natural to want attention. Belittling that can even be a form of cyberbullying or victim blaming according to Psychology Today.
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Chapter 3: What examples illustrate the widespread nature of sadfishing?
It seems there's a fine line between trying to be authentic on social media and using vulnerability to generate likes. There you have it. Now you know what sad fishing is. In under three minutes we answer your questions. What would you like to know about? Use the comments section to send us your questions.