Why ‘kittenfishing’ is the new dating trend all singletons need to watch out for
SINGLETONS beware. There's a new online dating phenomenon you need to watch out for.
Forget benching, breadcrumbing and ghosting, kittenfishing is the new way that your date could be deceiving you - and you have almost certainly already experienced it.
So what is kittenfishing? It's essentially a tamed down version of catfishing - which is when online daters pretend to be someone they're not.
Kittenfishing, on the other hand, is when dating app users embellish the truth and present themselves in an unrealistically positive light - to try and draw in potential lovers.
Saying you're a few inches taller than you really are, deliberately using old photos or posting heavily filtered pictures might seem harmless.
But it will almost certainly leave your date feeling disappointed, which is sure to get things off to a bad start.
Some people also exaggerate their age, interests or accomplishments to make themselves seem more interesting - as well as enlisting their funniest friends to ghost write their bios.
Most people are familiar with the trend, but was the first to put a name to it.
How Hinge's dating experts define 'kittenfishing'
Kittenfishing: the phenomenon of well-intentioned dating app users presenting themselves in an unrealistically positive light.
A kittenfisher’s profile is often comprised of photos that are outdated, heavily-filtered, or strategically angled, text that has been ghost-written by a particularly witty friend, and height that has been rounded by more than two inches.
According to a recent survey, 38 per cent of men feel they have been kittenfished - as well as 24 per cent of women.
But, surprisingly, just two per cent of men and one per cent of women admit to having done it themselves - suggesting most people don't realise the extent of their own lies.
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“If everyone was just honest, things would be a lot easier,” said one Hinge member.
“Yeah, you might have to face some of your insecurities, but in the end, people don’t like liars, and if you lie, it probably won’t work out anyway.”
If you thought kittenfishing was a problem, these are some of the worst cases of catfashing including one bloke who genuinely believed he was dating Katy Perry - when he was really chatting to an 18-year-old from Gloucester.
And, if you're feeling confused by all the new dating buzz words, read The Sun's guide to keeping up with your modern day romance.