Twitter Death Hoax
The latest Twitter death hoax, Keanu Reeves, came shortly after news of Whitney Houston’s death went viral across the internet. Rumors spread about Keanu Reeves apparently dying in a snowboarding accident over the weekend. This Twitter death hoax was started on a fake news site as many of them do.
Latest Twitter Death Hoax | The Report
So just who were the culprits in this viral Twitter death hoax? That would be the fake news site, Global Associated News, which claimed that Keanu was killed while snowboarding accident. Just what is Global Associated News? Believe it or not, Global Associated News is a celebrity fake news generator, thats right, all you have to do is type in a celebrity’s name and the site will automatically create a death hoax post for you. How this is legal, we don’t know.
Here is the story that was generated by the site that made the Twitter death hoax go viral.
The fake site indicated that Reeves had been on vacation at a ski resort in Switzerland when the accident occurred. The false story also claimed the actor was airlifted to a local hospital, but that he had died instantly from the impact of the crash. This set off a lot of worried and upset tweets from fans who thought the actor had really perished.
http://celebs.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981107581
Twitter Death Hoax | Top Tweets
Lets take a look at some of the top tweets surrounding the Keanu Reeves Twitter death hoax to get a glimpse at just how upset some of the fans were and whether or not they truly believed the rumor or not.
— “We’re not even done with mourning #WhitneyHouston‘s death and there are rumors that Keanu Reeves is dead. Please not let this be real!” – Gwen Y
— “Snowboarding?? Crazy. RT@Ndirishlover I hope the news about Keanu Reeves is not true.” – Tyler Shoemaker
— “Someone tell me that Keanu Reeves hasn’t died?? :(” –Chloe-leigh Mayes
— “goodness…now their trying to kill Keanu Reeves!! I know hes been ghost for a min but that doesnt mean he deserves internet death!!” – Sharne S
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/297255/20120212/keanu-reeves-death-hoax-twitter-whitney-houston.htm
Twitter Death Hoax | How They Got Away With It
Although the Twitter death hoax isn’t completely visible at first, the site in which the story was published does share a disclaimer at the bottom of the page in the footer section that states, “FAKE… THIS STORY IS 100% FAKE! this is an entertainment website, and this is a totally fake article based on zero truth and is a complete work of fiction for entertainment purposes! this story was dynamically generated using a generic ‘template’ and is not factual. Any reference to specific individuals has been 100% fabricated by web site visitors who have created fake stories by entering a name into a blank ‘non-specific’ template for the purpose of entertainment. For sub-domain info, name removal requests and additional use restrictions: FakeAWish.com.”
So what do you think? Should websites like this that created the Keanu Reeves Twitter death hoax be allowed to exist or should we just blame those that share the stories for not doing their research before sharing it with others?
Image attribution: http://troll.me/images/keanu-reeves-conspiracy/what-if-walt-disney-isnt-dead-and-is-cyrogenically-frozen-under-disneyland-thumb.jpg
