Eighteen credit hours worth of classes keeps me from watching much cable television. When I am not taking a full load of classes, I still don’t find myself sitting in front of a television, surfing through the channels in the hopes of finding something mindless and entertaining. Because of this, I have become quite ignorant of what is “in” television show-wise, but apparently it is still mindless and entertaining.
The last hit reality show on MTV I heard of was the ever so mindless and guiltily entertaining Jersey Shore. Although I am not sure MTV will be able to ever top the self-obsessed, orange New Jersey-ians with another reality show, it has come close with its newest hit, “Catfish: The TV Show”.
MTV aired its finale for season one of “Catfish: The TV Show” on Feb. 18 and is already casting contestants for its second season. The show finds young adults who are in “relationships” with someone they have met over the Internet and seeks to introduce them to their partner (whom they have only ever maintained contact with over a computer screen).
The show is based on the 2010 film “Catfish,” directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. The film’s “online relationship victim,” Nev, is the brother to director Ariel Schulman. Nev Schulman has since teamed up with MTV in creating the reality show version of the film in an effort to expose the world of online dating.
Every episode of MTV’s show follows the lives of young adults and focuses on the many roads an online relationship may take someone.
Nick Pappas, a freshman English major at Shepherd University, told me he has never seen the show. “The shows that currently air on MTV are a disgrace to the channel. MTV should return to its roots or change its name,” he said.
Although the topics that MTV finds to be worthy of a reality show seem witless and full of thickheaded wannabe celebrities, the topic of online dating is something we should be acquainted with. The world of online dating is not a new phenomenon for those of us who have grown up with technology always at our fingertips.
Even those who we admire and idolize have experimented with this evasive world. Only less than a month ago was the media obsessed with Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o and his online affair. Like so many others who have been brave, curious, or desperate enough to travel throughout the online dating world, Te’o was a victim of an embarrassing and rather silly online hoax.
We should be aware of the dangers outside of our homes but also the fact that dangers, known or unknown, can creep their way into our homes by way of our own discretion.
I urge those of you who spend time conversing with strangers via the Internet (we all do it somehow) to be aware of the potential harm the “thing” on the other side of the glass may cause. It could be that MTV’s show may bring light to a secretive world and enlighten us on responsible Internet behavior.
Again, since I have never seen the show, I do not know how stories have turned out for the show’s contestants. The point is that technology will continue to increase and will continue to be in our lives in many ways. It is our duty to promote decent and honest Internet behavior for the generations that lie ahead.
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