The process of falling in love has never been immune to the mass influx of technology in our daily lives.
In the 21st century it's not uncommon to hear of people who have met online instead of at a social or a Sadie Hawkins dance.
But, it's a whole other kettle of fish when you meet someone online and often times the kettle itself is full of catfish.
Catfishing is one of the newest phenomenas to take root in common parlance, but it's definitely a word that has stuck. To catfish another person means to engage them in a fake relationship online, and the act of perpetrating such a hoax is now known as "catfishing."
The final few lines of dialogue in the 2010 documentary Catfish explains where the term came from.
"They used to tank cod from Alaska all the way to China. They'd keep them in vats in the ship. By the time the codfish reached China the flesh was mush and tasteless. So this guy came up with this idea that if you put these cods in these big vats, put some catfish in with them. And the catfish would keep the cod agile. And there are those people who are catfish in life. And they keep you on your toes, they keep guessin' they keep you thinkin' they keep you fresh. And I thank God for the catfish because we would be dull and boring if we didn't have somebody nipping at our fin."
It's a romantic idea for such a scummy thing to do.
The idea of playing with someone else's heart is just mean, but the more we are exposed to the reasons behind misleading others, the more sense can be made of the act.
Prince George is the exemption to the rule when it comes to strangers being friendly. People actually say "good morning" or "hello" to perfect strangers.
That is not the case in the bigger cities. In fact, people tend to wear headphones to discourage strangers from any unwanted engagement.
So how are people supposed to make love connections when no one will talk to each other? Enter the Internet.
It's easier to bare your soul and be honest with strangers sometimes when you have that faithful computer screen in between you.
Where it gets messy is when you introduce yourself as Sarah, but your name is actually Ralph.
It happened recently with Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o and an apparent girlfriend hoax. In September, he announced his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, had died of leukemia within six hours of his grandmother. Apparently, Kekua was nothing more than Te'o's imaginary friend - she never existed.
The idea of falling for someone online is not out of the question, nor is it implausible, but the idea of not harnessing the full-throttle power of Google, is an unforgivable error.
To be safe - just Google everything.
Also, listen to your spidey-sense. If it strikes you as odd that your online love doesn't have a phone, is dying of cancer, is a TV producer with the BBC and has been to Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan on separate trips, it's time to take pause and do some digging on your own.
When the Internet became available to the masses, it was mostly academics and other smarty-pants who were occupying the online hallways, but now - the Internet is a creature that breathes off misinformation.
But for some that innocence lives on, people constantly showing a naivete online they never would in the real world, like accepting excuses from a love interest. Yet, it happens everyday, it just doesn't make it into the paper.
-associate news editor Ashley MacDonald
