很多人都说网络交友不靠谱，主要是因为大家在网络上交流的时候，可能多少都会对自己的真实情况有所隐瞒，有时甚至会过度美化自己以吸引他人注意。这种行为在英语里叫catfishing。
Catfishing is the practice of lying about yourself in an online environment, usually with the elaborate fabrication of an online identity, in order to impress others, especially to trick someone into a relationship.
Catfishing指在网络环境中对自己的情况有所隐瞒，通常精心编造一个优质的网络身份，目的是为了给他人留下深刻印象，尤其是为了吸引某人与其发展恋爱关系，我们可称之为“网络自夸”。
Believe it or not, a little controlled catfishing is something that plenty of the Instant Message generation has experimented with. Really, who hasn’t tried to escape their reality by pretending to be a 17-year-old varsity baseball player in an N SYNC chat room every now and then? (Source: .Cambridge dictionary online)
不管你信不信，使用即时通讯工具的一代人基本都试过适度“网络自夸”。说真的，在超级男孩聊天室里，谁不会想着逃离当前的身份，偶尔假装成一名17岁的大学校队棒球手呢？