‘Sadfishing’ warning as schoolchildren seek solace online

Schoolchildren seeking solace online are being affected by the latest toxic social media trend – “sadfishing”, a new report warns.

Youngsters are being accused of attention-seeking after sharing details about personal issues online in search of support, it says.

“Sadfishing” has been used to describe when someone posts about an emotional problem in an attempt to attract attention, sympathy or hook an audience.

The term was coined after a number of celebrities, such as Kendall Jenner, were accused of teasing details about personal issues on their social media site to drum up publicity and attract more likes and shares.

But a new study, by Digital Awareness UK (DAUK), says that youngsters facing genuine distress who are turning to the internet to find support are being accused of jumping on this bandwagon, and may be bullied as a result. It argues that in these cases, students can be left feeling disappointed at not getting the support they desire, and it could make their emotional or mental health problems worse.

There are also concerns that youngsters could be left vulnerable to online groomers, who prey on them by providing sympathy in order to gain their trust.

“DAUK is concerned about the number of students who are bullied for sadfishing (through comments on social media, on messaging apps or face-to-face), thus exacerbating what could be a serious mental health problem,” the report says.

“We have noticed that students are often left feeling disappointed by not getting the support they need online.

“Groomers can also use comments that express a need for emotional support to connect with young people and gain their trust, only to try and exploit it at a later point.”

It goes on to give a case study of a teenage girl who had started a relationship with someone she met on social media through a mutual friend, after sharing her experiences of depression online.

The young girl ended the relationship when she discovered he was much older than he claimed and he was pressurising her into sharing explicit images of herself.

The study, commissioned by the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference is based on face-to-face interviews with more than 50,000 children aged 11 to 16.

It notes that youngsters are becoming more tech-savvy and are more likely to manage their own use of technology responsibly.

Charlotte Robertson, DAUK co-founder, said: “Over the last year we’ve seen the digital landscape evolve at such rapid pace – particularly when it comes to the prevalence of data misuse.”