Catfish host to speak at the University

Ariel Weinstein/Contributing Writer

Nowadays, social media has dominated people’s ability to speak and interact with other people, face to face. Whether it be due to fear of not knowing what to say, doubts of whether the other person will “like” you or not, or just feeling more comfortable being somewhat anonymous, the internet has become a third wheel, if not the dominating factor, in a relationship.

On Oct. 30, 2013, MTV network star Yaniv “Nev” Schulman, host of the show “Catfish,” will be hosting a lecture at the Modesto A. Maidique campus. There will be a private, more in-depth, lecture for psychology students and professors, and a more general lecture for all University students.

Schulman, a New York City native, is a producer, actor and photographer.

He started his career at 19 when he created a film and photography production company with his brother Ariel Schulman. Although he is most passionate about photographing ballet dancers, Schulman is most widely known for his 2010 documentary “Catfish.”

Senior Berenice Rosa, a communication arts major, has been working for SPC for three years. She is co-directing this event with Alanna Lopez, senior special education major, who has been working with the Student Programming Council for two years. Rosa, who watches Nev’s “Catfish” show, commented on Ned being a laidback guy who has been personally affected by what he does on the show.

“Having Nev [Schulman] at the University is good because people can  relate to him and as the SPC, we want to garner students’ attention. The show premiered two months ago, but people are still talking about it. We  want speakers who cater to student’s interest,” Rosa said.

SPC also chose him to come speak because social media is such a big part of people’s lives today.

“I feel like it’s as important in your daily schedule as brushing your teeth! You wake up and the first thing you do is check Facebook,” Lopez said.

Rosa and Lopez both hope students will make an appearance at the show with an open mind as to what Schulman has to say. Lopez thinks students will learn more of what not to do over the internet than what to do.

“I feel students will learn how not to portray yourself on the internet because at the end of the day, you never know who you’re really talking to… having him come puts in a new line of what to do and potential dangers of what could happen, so watch what you put on social media,” Lopez said.

“We are college students and, yeah, we are enjoying our time right now, but we eventually graduate,” Rosa added, “We are going to have to face the real world and there might be things that hinder us from getting the position that we want because we posted a drunk picture on Facebook.”

In addition to learning what not to put on the Internet, Rosa and Lopez hope Nev will get a strong message across.

“It’s time to take a step back and get into the real world a little bit, to have real life conversations with people instead of through the keyboard,” Lopez said. “It’s really cool that we are bringing him and maybe he will help someone who thought it was a good idea to post a certain picture, and then they will think about it again and tell themselves they should probably take it down today.”

life@fiusm.com