GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Some teenagers and children are trying to generate sympathy on social media by exaggerating their negative emotional state.
It is called "sadfishing." Online safety expert David Everitt said on West Michigan's Morning News it is a cry for help.
"So, they make themselves vulnerable, trying to get this attention. And then, they (inadvertently) invite in these predators who are looking for that specific vulnerability," Everitt said. "Children don't have the wisdom of how to really filter out who is worthy of these conversations."
Everitt is the CEO of GameSafe, an app that monitors the child's device to alert parents to suspicious chat behavior and threats in online games.
He said it is a mental-health situation.
"They're looking for somebody to accept them, to give them attention."
Everitt said it can be dangerous, unless a parent or friend recognizes what is going on and intervenes.
"They're spending all of their time posting, looking for likes and ways to connect with a greater audience. And that's one of the dangers of social media: now you have this vast audience that just feeds this emotional state of your child," he said.
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