As consumers, we are overexposed to content because it is being produced 24/7. We are unconscious consumers unable to filter through the clutter to reach our own logical decisions about what to believe. This is why we fall for viral hoaxes.
When a majority of people are believing what turns out to be a hoax, especially those in our network whom we trust as reliable sources, we believe the hoax too. When a celebrity buys into the hoax, we are validated. Celebrities such have powerful platforms that they have the ability to influence public opinion, as seen when Rick Perry fell for the recent Instagram hoax.
Rick Perry, the man in charge of American nuclear weapons, fell for an Instagram hoax https://t.co/TmkXEsI4ir
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) August 21, 2019
Internet hoaxes are created because we live in a culture that desires to be “trending.” Media outlets have designated pages for what content is trending at the moment, making this content easily accessible. Creators make content thinking—how do I get people talking about this? This desire to make content go viral and get trending is a social “high” for creators. Anyone can create anything at any time. Creating a hoax is one way of breaking through the clutter.
I believe Internet hoaxes end up doing more harm than good because they create public hysteria over something that is not even true. Hoaxes instigate the spread of false information, which furthers consumers’ mistrust in the media. Although the language used in the Instagram post seemed unprofessional, not many people took the time to question if the post was real.
Grammar & punctuation matter. Not the most important takeaway from this viral Instagram hoax, but worth remembering: Care in language bespeaks professionalism. Many phishes & hoaxes expose themselves by their linguistic errors. https://t.co/iVbHicEQaf
— Steven Pinker (@sapinker) August 22, 2019
Hoaxes should be “media wake up calls” for consumers to realize they need to be more conscious, but typically hoaxes come and go without having an end result. It is time to be more conscious consumers and stop falling for the hoax.