Social media platforms are dominated by fleeting trends and the latest one gaining significant attention is being termed as ‘sadfishing.’ Regular social media users might recognise this behaviour of individuals consistently posting enigmatic posts about self-worth on their Instagram stories or cryptic captions hinting at karma catching up with someone. This attention-seeking activity, dubbed as ‘sadfishing,’ by academic researchers involves posting emotional or distressing content to attract sympathetic comments and reactions from the online audience.
How Did The Term ‘Sadfishing’ Originate?
The term ‘sadfishing’ was first coined by journalist Rebecca Reid in 2019. She used to describe how Kendall Jenner’s emotional story about her severe acne struggle turned out to be a part of a marketing campaign for her Proactiv partnership. In a tweet, Reid noted that the term which was originally meant to criticise “celebrities deliberately withholding information for their own gain” is now being used to discourage people from sharing their vulnerabilities online.
Other celebrities like Adele and Travis Scott have found themselves in similar situations while many influencers on social media platforms resort to sharing emotional videos highlighting their struggles.
“Lots of us sadfish sometimes, and that’s okay,” Reid told Independent. “Attention seeking is a perfectly legitimate thing. There’s nothing wrong with wanting attention,” she added.
Behavioral specialist and researcher Cara Petrofes has since defined “sadfishing” as the “a tendency of social media users to publish exaggerations of their emotional states to generate sympathy.” Petrofes approach deviated from Reid’s use of the term to critique celebrity culture. She and her fellow researchers explored the social media trend in a 2021 paper published in the Journal of American College Health. They were intrigued by its common use as a “maladaptive” coping mechanism among college students.
“Our research showed that those who are anxiously attached tend to seek validation through others and need consistent friend activity and a higher number of online/in-person friendships,” Petrofes explained to the Huffington Post. “That can lead to sadfishing.”
She further added that individuals with an anxious attachment and negative personal experiences might be more inclined to engage in maladaptive online behaviours such as pretending to be depressed or sad to seek support they feel doesn’t otherwise exist.
However, psychotherapist Tess Brigham told the outlet that seeking validation from peers is a natural part of being human and doesn’t always indicate an anxious attachment style. She further noted that in the past people would seek sympathy in person but the digital landscape has changed the way we seek attention.
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