What To Believe: The Harrowing Hoax Crisis

Posted on by Olivia Lobsenz

In the current day with all this technology, there are many ways to create a hoax. I think the reason that people make internet hoaxes is simple: to get money and/or power. People who create these hoaxes usually want information to get into personal accounts to find something that leads to a monetary gain. Or, like in the case of the Instagram hoax, they want to introduce false information to the public that is just realistic enough to get people to believe it. An article from Wired points out that the Instagram hoax “duped upwards of a dozen celebrities on Tuesday” (Martineau). The person who created this hoax just sits behind their computer and watches tons of people, including celebrities who are people of power, squirm at the thought of their personal information being shared, and that gives the creator of the hoax a feeling of power.

Internet hoaxes are without a doubt harmful. Although the Instagram one was relatively low-level and harmless, there are other hoaxes that can take people’s money, hack their accounts and/or ruin their lives. Strangely enough, although hoaxes are primarily harmful, sometimes they can help people be aware of what they are reading, posting and believing on the internet. Today it is so easy to get caught up in fake news stories and rumors. Hoaxes are the realistic reminder and sometimes brutal lesson that believing something you see on the internet could have serious, real-life consequences.

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/why-people-keep-falling-viral-hoaxes/

MLA Citation: Martineau, Paris. “Why People Keep Falling for Viral Hoaxes.” Wired, Conde Nast, 22 Aug. 2019, https://www.wired.com/story/why-people-keep-falling-viral-hoaxes/.

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