Kendall Jenner-inspired ‘sadfishing’ trend ‘puts children at risk of grooming’

A Kendall Jenner-inspired trend may be putting children at risk of bullying and grooming.

‘Sadfishing’ is a term used to describe when someone posts about an emotional problem online in a perceived bid to hook an audience and gain attention.

It was coined after celebrities including Jenner were accused of oversharing personal details online to get attention, Birmingham Mail reports.

In the case of Kim Kardashian’s model half-sister, Instagram posts about her acne seemed overly emotionally wrought for some and left many unsure how to react.

While it may be fun to scoff in the case of the world’s highest paid model, a new study has found young people facing genuine distress are often accused of jumping on the bandwagon when they turn to the internet for support.

In return for reaching out on virtual platform, youngsters can feel disappointed when they are snubbed, which often makes the problem seem worse.

One Year 7 student told researchers he used Instagram to share his feelings when he was feeling down due to problems at home.

“I got a lot of people commenting on and ‘liking’ my post but then some people said I was sadfishing the next day at school for attention,” the student said.

“Sharing my feelings online has made me feel worse in some ways but supported in others.”

Young people opening up online can also make themselves to online groomers, who prey on them by providing sympathy in order to gain their trust.

“Groomers can also use comments that express a need for emotional support as a platform to connect with young people and gain their trust, only to try and exploit it at a later point,” the study reports.

The researchers tell the story of one teenage girl who met someone on social media through a mutual friend after sharing experiences of her depression online.

He had commented on the post and empathetically offered his own experiences in response.

The girl called the relationship off when she released he was much older and had asked her for explicit images of herself.

The study, commissioned by the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, is based on face-to-face interviews with more than 50,000 children aged 11 to 16.