Why Do Men Who Have Sex With Men Catfish On Dating Applications?

Catfishing is defined as when an individual with inauthentic photos attempts to develop an online relationship with another user on digital platforms (Filice et al., 2019). A surge in dating application usage during the COVID-19 global pandemic encouraged users to spend more time on the platforms (Ting and McLachlan, 2022); catfishing has become a prominent phenomenon in the men who have sex with men (MSM) community as users adopted unconventional uses (Rice et al., 2012). This major research paper aims to find the answer to why MSM catfish by analyzing digital media content not older than 10 years and to publish the research results on Tiktok. Body image and being closeted provide insights into catfishers' motives.