What is sadfishing, the trend flooding social networks with tears?

'Sadfishing' is very on-trend on social networks. — AFP Relaxnews

Demonstrating emotions of sadness, distress or even anguish on social networks is enabling some influencers to lure viewers to their content and even to attract new followers. This trend has been given the term 'sadfishing,' and the phenomenon is such that it has given birth to a new filter on Snapchat: the crying face.

Bella Hadid made news last November after posting a lengthy post on Instagram about her unhappiness, accompanied by several selfies featuring her eyes reddened with tears. The objective? To remind her community that "social networks are not reality," in other words that her supposed dream life does not exempt her, like everyone else, from feeling bad. Reactions came in fast: 2.5 million likes, and nearly 23,000 comments. If the influencer with 50 million subscribers was probably not looking for such engagement – because she doesn't need it – it's interesting to note that this post had much more success than her previous ones - and the ones that followed.