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Catfishing on an Industrial Scale

wired.com

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Re: Catfishing on an Industrial Scale

#3

Post by _yb2s »

This is disgusting… the amount of emotional harm they are causing is incredible. People being tricked like this will be damaged in a way that makes it impossible to trust or connect with others. They are presumably isolated and lonely already or they would not be paying for a dating site.

This feels to me like it is akin to rape, an emotional rather than physical rape, but it will make them feel powerless and violated and unable to trust others. Our culture tends to downplay emotional trauma as somehow not serious, without realizing that the most damaging part of physical trauma is also the emotional aspect.

This should be prosecuted accordingly, every single person involved should spend decades in prison.

Re: Catfishing on an Industrial Scale

#6

Post by sdwr »

Really terrible! It's hard enough to trust people as it is.

The workers here are approaching the qualia of ChatGPT's experience, instantiated in a role for a brief moment.

Also something something atomization of society.

Re: Catfishing on an Industrial Scale

#7

Post by m-watson »

agluszak wrote: post #2

So apparently now you can't even read articles without subscribing to a bullshit newsletter? https://archive.md/gAb6l

Wired does seem to have a syndication agreement with Ars if you wait a few days for their articles:

https://arstechnica.com/culture/2023/05/this-is-catfishing-o...

Re: Catfishing on an Industrial Scale

#8

Post by anovikov »

Many dating websites don't have a single real woman. They simply exist to lure desperate men to keep swiping and chatting to these human-bots until they realise they have been duped all along, or even never. In fact, this is openly said on affiliate conferences if you visit them, they discuss whole strategies on how to keep people swiping. Same about every other online industry, sometimes worse (literate scams as in "stealing other people money"). All except porn, that is. Porn (and webcams) are real things. This is why i highly prefer working for porn companies, at least i know it's an honest, real business with nothing to hide.

On the good side of things, most dating sites/apps won't be able to exist without these full time catfishers. Just because cost of traffic won't be paid back by their revenue. And still, there's some trickle of real women on some of them - most women i know have dating profiles so i know there are - so some people actually meet there.

Re: Catfishing on an Industrial Scale

#9

Post by milsorgen »

agluszak wrote: post #2

So apparently now you can't even read articles without subscribing to a bullshit newsletter? https://archive.md/gAb6l

I even subscribed for 5 bucks a couple months ago and it still pesters me. I can't seem to stay logged in. Anyways in case anyone is wondering the physical wired magazine is just articles you've already read on their website days or weeks ago on the cheapest quality paper and ink that can survive a mailing. Maybe that's all self evident for most but this is first time I've subscribed to physical magazine in decades.

Re: Catfishing on an Industrial Scale

#10

Post by catiopatio »

anovikov wrote: post #8

Many dating websites don't have a single real woman. They simply exist to lure desperate men to keep swiping and chatting to these human-bots until they realise they have been duped all along, or even never. In fact, this is openly said on affiliate conferences if you visit them, they discuss whole strategies on how to keep people swiping. Same about every other online industry, sometimes worse (literate scams as in…

The porn industry hides coercion, rampant drug abuse, STIs, rape, and an abhorrent human cost paid by its actors.
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