Remember the 2000s? Everyone was sending out chain emails left and right saying that if the chain wasn’t forwarded on, their life would be over. And for that very reason, we all forwarded on the chain. That was the original internet hoax. Almost a decade later and these hoaxes continue to arise on the internet.
I swear I didn’t send a chain email to ten friends when I was like 13 and my life has been going downhill ever since
— Deep Ellum Step Daddy (@feelmybricep) September 2, 2019
Internet hoaxes get shared for various reasons; whether out of fear or compassion, people feel the need to share messages that friends, family or celebrities are also sharing. Most recently, an Instagram hoax was shared by thousands stating that if the picture was not reposted “pictures, information, messages or posts, both from the past and future” would be revealed to the world. I think this post was shared thousands of times due to the credibility of some individuals reposting it. If your favorite celebrity reposts something, do you even consider how truthful it could be? Many celebrities, including Tom Holland and Niall Horan, shared this message to all of their followers.
A List Of All The Celebrities That Fell For That Really Dumb Instagram Hoax https://t.co/HCr6JqB6J6
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) August 22, 2019
At the time, they probably all believed to be helping out the celebrity community. All celebrities enjoy their privacy and having their personal messages, photos and data shared to their world seems like it could be their worst nightmare. In reposting this made up Instagram post, celebrities were most likely looking out for each other. This specific instance did not bring any harm to individuals who saw the post, but other hoaxes potentially could spread false and frightening information. If you weren’t scared of the said clown that would show up in your closet if you didn’t forward on that chain email, you’re lying.
To read more about this, check out this post with quotes from a Syracuse Professor!
Source: https://www.wired.com/story/why-people-keep-falling-viral-hoaxes/
Emily,
I think that your blog post was very unique because you began it by describing a memory that we all share in common. This drew me in and encouraged me to keep reading your post because I definitely related and remembered all of the chain emails! I loved the title of your post because you incorporated the main topic and assignment, which was an interesting idea. Additionally, I enjoyed that you mentioned the impact that celebrities have had on these scams. Great post!
Hi Emily!
First of all I love your title. It is very creative and totally caught my attention as I was choosing which blog post to read. The start of your post was also very intriguing. I liked how you started off asking a question and brought up the ridiculous hoax of our generation’s childhood, chain emails. This made your post relatable and added a bit of humor to further reel in readers. The two tweets that you incorporated into your analysis tied in nicely and definitely contributed to the various points you made throughout the post. Lastly, the part about how people often assume that something a celebrity posts is the truth was an interesting point. I can definitely see myself more likely to believe something tweeted by a celebrity. It is as if that verified symbol on their account makes our brains think that what they are saying is completely accurate. Your post was very entertaining to read! Great job.
Hey Emily! I absolutely love the way you titled your post. I feel like we all can relate to having received those chain emails, and possibly even falling for a few when we were younger. I think there’s definitely a connection to be made between chain mail like that and the hoaxes today. It’s that same viral phenomenon and pressure that we feel to repost it, especially when we don’t want something bad to happen to us. Especially when we see celebrities posting the same thing, we’re more likely to believe the hoaxes to be true.
I love the title of this blog post. It made me curious to read what you had to say. I completely agree that many celebrities thought that they were helping when they shared out this message on their instagram accounts to their large audiences. Hoaxes can definitely become harmful when they get out of hand!
Hi Emily! I really like your title as well as the first line of your article. It made me want to read more and also made me nostalgic about the early 2000s when I used to send out chain emails to my friends. I also loved the tweet by Buzzfeed and was even inclined to click on the link and read it as well. Overall great job.
Hi Emily,
I really enjoyed reading your take on instagram hoaxes within our social media world. I liked that you went through the timeline of where they began as chain messages, I too did that. It was interesting to see how you did it from a celebrities view and how they want to keep their lives private and their phones. I did not think about it like that as I was writing my response. I also enjoyed your embedded tweet and BuzzFeed article and felt that they were a great addition.