That stupid Internet hoax from 2012 is back. Except now on Instagram. And every comment about posting it is “better safe than sorry“. 🤷🏽♂️
This is the same logic as walking around with garlic around your neck just in case you get attacked by a vampire.
It’s ridiculous. 🤦🏽♂️
— John Pesina (@johnpesina) August 21, 2019
Come on people, if you're gonna fall for an internet hoax, at least make sure it's marginally believable. Instagram is ruined today.
— dj prep (@dpnation) September 25, 2014
As an avid Instagram user and fanatic, I am surprised and shocked to have just been informed about the recent hoax on Instagram claiming that privacy policies would soon be altered. These hoaxes, in fact, occur quite often, and many people express their feelings about them in a variety of ways. I believe that people create Internet hoaxes to cause people to talk more on social media and engage with others. People want to start drama whenever possible and creating a hoax like this one instills anger in many people who then post or tweet about their feelings. Hoaxes have many effects on people, and in a way, I do believe that they can be harmless, harmful, and helpful all at the same time. The hoaxes can be seen as harmless because they are false and will not actually cause damage to people’s account. On the other hand, hoaxes can be harmful because they cause people to become more nervous about posting and could result in a decline of social media usage. As seen in the tweets above, hoaxes will often rile people up and cause them to post about it. In many instances, people will also joke about these hoaxes and get a lot of attention on their posts for turning a nerve wracking situation into a funny story. Lastly, Internet hoaxes can be helpful because they are a reminder to social media users that it is paramount for individuals to protect and secure their accounts and always make sure that privacy settings are enabled. In an article written by Annie Palmer published by CNBC, it is stated that Facebook dealt with a similar hoax in 2015 about their privacy settings. This proves that Internet hoaxes occur more often than not, and it is crucial that people look out for hoaxes in order to know what information is true and how to protect social media accounts.