The catfish effect means: the phenomenon in which a move or change in a person or thing spreads and replicates rapidly among those who are triggered to follow.

The catfish effect originated when a catfish swimming in an aquarium triggered other fish to follow its movements at the same time, creating an overall clustering behavior. In the social and cultural realm, the catfish effect refers to the influence of one individual's behavior, opinion, or trend on others, causing a cascade of imitation and replication. This effect is often seen in social media, fashion trends, and consumer behavior.

When a celebrity, social media personality, or leading group pushes or adopts a certain viewpoint, product, or behavior, others are influenced and follow suit. The catfish effect spreads through social channels and social influence.

A person's behavior or opinion is widely shared and discussed on social media platforms, which quickly spreads to a larger group of people. This leads to many people imitating, following and adopting similar behaviors.

The catfish effect is widely used in marketing, advertising and social media strategies. Brands or marketers utilize the influence of some famous personalities, opinion leaders or internet celebrities to trigger the catfish effect through their publicity and promotion, thus increasing the exposure and sales of their products or services.

Significance of the catfish effect:

1. Social communication: the catfish effect promotes the rapid spread of information dissemination and viewpoint dissemination. When a person or a group of people demonstrates a certain behavior, viewpoint or trend, others tend to be influenced and follow suit, thus enabling the rapid spread of information or viewpoints in society.

2, the formation of collective action: catfish effect helps to form collective action and social movements. When individuals follow and imitate certain behaviors or ideas, they form a large group that can *** with the pursuit of greater goals and promote social change.

3, commodity promotion: catfish effect is widely used in commodity promotion and marketing. By utilizing the influence of opinion leaders, online celebrities or social media, products or brands are recommended to the target audience, thus triggering the catfish effect and increasing product exposure and sales.

4. Forming social norms: The catfish effect helps to form social norms and **** knowledge. When people see others reaching *** knowledge and imitating on specific behaviors, they tend to incorporate such behaviors as well, thus helping to establish social norms and values.