Other then an extension of our humanity we can declare the internet as an extension of our society and physical environment. To truly see this impact we need to take a trip to a society that has fully harmonised every aspect of their life with Internet and technology. Seoul has the fastest Internet connection in the world that extends to their underground system, deeming this South Korean city the most connected in the world.

Cat-Fishing

David Bell has theorised a different reasoning regarding detachment from the outside world. As we’re previously explored, Bell’s concern was a withdrawal from civil society due to detachment, which in extreme cases can deem the virtual presence as the only way to belong within a community (Bell, 2007).


MTV’s Cat Fish TV series has successfully highlighted David Bell’s theory by travelling across America and televising the public’s experiences on this matter.  The show focuses on helping individuals who are in online relationships uncover their online partners’ true identity. Presenter Nev Schulman uncovers that the victims have emotionally become attached to their mystery online partner; this is a clear example of Dr Andrew Feenberg’s concept. When we’re online because we connect with others on a physiologically rather than physically, this calls for a greater emotional interaction with the content (Feenberg, 2010).



" According to an MTV survey of Millenials 18-24 years old, 1 in 4 has online dated, 1 in 2 has a friend who does it and, in the past threeyears, traffic to top 10 online dating sites has tripled. In a world where everyone is constantly connected digitally, social media has made communicating easier but this digital world might also complicate relationships."
For this reason many people across the world can form relationships according to their personalities rather than their physical appearance. As great as this may seem, for individuals who have been isolated from society due to their physical appearance and depend on their virtual presence to find a sense of belonging this causes significant complications.

 As Bell has highlighted from Castell’s discussion, because these culprits have re-created their virtual presence in a manner which they find fitting to society, they are in a way cloaking their true identities. In combination with how we experience ourselves as multiple, distributed systems culprits can in fact live through multiple false identities (Bell, 2007).  This experience leads them to deem themselves unaccountable and irresponsible for their actions. As Nev Schulman uncovers the culprits often use their fake identities to either experience emotional connections they long for or inflict emotional distress due to trauma and vengeance.

 So even though during the Cat Fish Tv Show victims may believe they are dating beautiful or handsome individuals with charismatic or charming personalities the reality is far from this.