The Dating Trend “Kittenfishing” and Why You Shouldn’t Overlook It

I’ve written on dating trends before, but this time I won’t be covering the positive side of what people are looking for in a potential partner.

This week, I started reading up on a new term called “kittenfishing” and it’s a lot more concerning than you might think. And before you send some kind of cute message or silly pick up line, I think you should know about it.

The Quick Definition: Kittenfishing is where someone tells a white lie, bends the truth, or exaggerates a quality or even an accomplishment about themselves. So think, adding inches to their height, lowering their age number, hiding obvious balding with a hat, filters, and even income/job exaggeration.

And while you might think, “well a lot of people do that,” I just want to make the quick case for why you shouldn’t ignore this very toxic trend.

Why Kittenfishing Shouldn’t Be Ignored

While it’s not catfishing and the photos on their dating profile aren’t of a completely different person, it could still be detrimental to your long-term happiness.

If someone is comfortable with lying to you upfront, it begs the question of what else are they comfortable with hiding?

It could be that they’re just self-conscious about a small physical detail (which they hide in the photos); that’s understandable. But when it gets into the realm of changing their job title, yearly income number, or even age, it shows that they’re very comfortable with fudging the details.

So what else would they start lying about in the future?

If you can’t have an open and honest relationship up front, then doesn’t this set the foundation for something toxic and stressful?

How to (Mostly) Avoid Kittenfishing

While you won’t be able to 100% avoid this dating trend, there are things you can do to lower your chances.

And the main way is to start meeting people offline.

Start heading to dinner parties or hosting your own gatherings, start up a conversation with someone at your favorite coffee house, or even meet up with hobby or activity groups in your area.

There are so many ways to meet someone in person (I met my husband at a summer BBQ get-togther 🤷‍♀️), and it’s a nice way to hopefully have a real and honest interaction with someone.

It’s not guaranteed, but there are things they won’t be able to hide in an in-person interaction, and you might even be able to tell if they’re acting a bit “off” when they tell you a certain detail about themselves.

PS – If you did end up asking that person out, then here are some first date questions to help you get to know them better + some really good date night ideas!