Overview
Kittenfishing is a mild form of catfishing where daters misrepresent themselves through strategic photo selection, outdated pictures, height exaggeration, or embellished bios without fully fabricating their identity. The term was coined by dating app Hinge in January 2017 to describe the disappointment of meeting someone who’s “technically them, but…not really.”
Common Tactics
Kittenfishers use exclusively angled/filtered photos from 5+ years ago, add 2-3 inches to height listings, claim “athletic” body types while being average, use only group photos requiring detective work, or list job titles inflated beyond reality (“entrepreneur” = unemployed). Unlike catfishing’s complete fiction, kittenfishing is strategic truth-bending.
The “You Look Different” Moment
First dates often featured awkward recognition struggles as matches looked 20 pounds different, significantly shorter, or distinctly older than photos suggested. Reddit’s r/Tinder and r/Bumble filled with “I got kittenfished” stories of bald men using photos with hair, or profiles showing 25-year-old photos of 40-year-olds.
Gender & Body Image
Studies showed women more commonly used beauty filters and old photos, while men exaggerated height and income. Both genders avoided full-body photos when insecure. The phenomenon reflected dating app pressure to present idealized selves, with users feeling catfished after seeing authentic profiles.
Platform Responses
Bumble and Hinge added photo verification badges (2020) requiring real-time selfies matching profile photos. Tinder introduced video chat (2020) to prevent surprise first dates. Despite tools, kittenfishing persisted as users rationalized “everyone does it.”
Cultural Impact
Kittenfishing normalized dishonesty as dating app strategy, with advice columns suggesting “strategic photo curation” rather than authenticity. Critics argued it wasted everyone’s time and destroyed trust before relationships began, advocating radical honesty over optimization.
Sources
- Hinge: “Kittenfishing: The New Dating Trend” (2017)
- MTV: “The Rise of Kittenfishing” (2018)
- Journal of Social & Personal Relationships: “Deception in Online Dating” (2019)
- The Verge: “How Dating Apps Are Fighting Kittenfishing” (2020)