Poonam Pandey’s death hoax, Kendall Jenner’s struggle with acne: What does ‘sadfishing’ mean?

Why was it invented?

It started with an Instagram post by Kris Jenner featuring her daughter Kendall Jenner, in which the second youngest of the family was wearing a plain white t-shirt and minimal makeup, looking into the camera earnestly. In the short video, she talks about how it is “normal” and when she was 14, she “couldn’t reach as many people” but now that she is 22, she “can help you”. Speculating on what this may mean, social media was abuzz with theories.

 

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Unfortunately, it turns out that Jenner was engaging in what we now call sadfishing. The clip was a teaser of her collaboration with the American skincare brand Proactiv. And she was referring to spots on her face, acne that every teenager experiences growing up. The fact that this was “performed sadness” for brand sponsorship, which is common on social media nowadays, is what led Reid to define the phenomenon.

Closer home, an instance of this was Poonam Pandey’s death hoax in February to raise awareness for cervical cancer. While it was a good cause, the need to resort to faking one’s death smacks of sadfishing. Celebrities, especially, have been guilty of this. Reid also noted this in a tweet where she clarified that the term was initially meant for “celebrities deliberately withholding information for their own gain.”

So why are we talking about it now?

Since it entered the zeitgeist, there have been a number of studies examining the causes and consequences of this trend. In March this year, for instance, a study of undergraduate students found that those who used “denial as a coping strategy, who endorsed the attention-seeking behaviors associated with histrionic personality disorder, and who used social media while intoxicated” were most likely to be sadfishing. It is important to understand when and why people sadfish, to be able to help in case there is need for an intervention. This study also highlights the necessity of coping mechanisms for those most likely to sadfish.

Why do people engage in this?

Aside from the already discussed need for sympathy, a 2023 study in BMC Psychology shows that anxiety, depression, and attention seeking are some reasons for it. Conversely, the study also found that those with perceived social support tend to engage lesser. At age 12, boys reported higher tendencies for sadfishing than girls but it lessened as they grew older. For girls, the tendency to sadfish seems to increase as they get older.

Even so, Reid believes that “attention seeking is a perfectly legitimate thing. There’s nothing wrong with wanting attention.” She adds, “Lots of us sadfish sometimes, and that’s okay.”

Could it be a cry for help?

Yes, it very well could be. As mentioned above, sometimes we all sadfish and it’s okay. But it becomes a problem when there is too much of it. There is a marked difference between posting online for likes and comments and being genuinely vulnerable. For instance, something cryptic like, “Why does this always happen to me? I’m so tired of it”, may be sadfishing. But a post discussing someone’s experience with mental health issues may be worth checking out and contributing support to.

This word was meant to call out celebrities for manipulating people for their own gain and advertising. But it has also led to a blurring of lines between what is real and what is performed, which can result in people not getting the help they need.