If you’ve seen any posts about self-esteem on social media, you may have already noticed a growing trend called “sadfishing” that’s taking over social media feeds.
You may also benefit from seeking heartfelt solace from your online followers.
But when it becomes an obsession and a constant need for attention or approval, it’s a different story. So what exactly is sadfishing?
What is sadfishing?
Journalist Rebecca Reid first coined the term “sadfishing” in 2019 to describe the practice of people exaggerating their emotional distress and posting it online in an attempt to gain sympathy or attention.
The term was inspired when Kendall Jenner’s emotional post about her “debilitating” struggle with acne was revealed to be a fake promotional stunt for a collaboration with Proactiv.
Reid has since tweeted that the term he coined is now being used to stop people from making themselves vulnerable online.
Umm, I made up the term sadfishing and now I feel really guilty about it. It was never meant to be used to discourage people from sharing their feelings online, it was only meant to be a comment on celebrities purposely hiding information for their own benefit. https://t.co/B2KjeGKzJY
— Rebecca Reid (@RebeccaCNReid) October 1, 2019
The term was originally used to criticize celebrities who deliberately conceal information for their own benefit.
Reid writes, “Most of us feel pessimistic from time to time, and that’s okay. It’s completely legitimate to want attention. There’s nothing wrong with wanting attention.”
Reid used the term to criticise celebrity culture, but behavioural expert and researcher Kara Petrofes explained it as “the tendency of social media users to exaggerate their emotions to gain sympathy”.
In a paper published in the Journal of American College Health, she and her colleagues explored this trend on social media, noting how common it is among college students as a “maladaptive” coping mechanism.
Petrofes told HuffPost: “Our research found that anxiously attached people tend to seek validation through others and require consistent friend activity and an increased number of online and in-person friendships, which can lead to sadfishing.”
There’s a difference between being vulnerable online and sadfishing, which could include sharing a story about heartbreak aimed specifically at a recent ex-partner, whereas someone posting a caption about depression might actually be asking for help or reaching out to others going through the same struggle.
A study by Digital Awareness UK (DAUK) surveyed 50,000 young people aged between 11 and 16 and found that children are accused of sad phishing when they go online to seek genuine support.
One student told researchers he was struggling at home and had expressed his feelings to friends on Instagram, but his attempts to seek help were seen as an emotional ploy to get attention, Sky News reported.
“A lot of people commented and ‘liked’ my post, but the next day some people said I was sadfishing to get attention at school,” the student said.
“Sharing my feelings online made me feel bad in some ways, but supported me in other ways.”
