Everything on the Internet is true!

What is it about the internet that makes so many people believe everything they read and fall for some obviously fake hoaxes? I mean, at what point do you read something and think "Gee, I'll bet Microsoft is going to have great success with this email tracking program, and I'll get paid $100 to forward it to 8 friends". Read that out loud and tell me you can do it without sounding like the dumbest airhead you've ever met. When you hear yourself it's apparent that is not normal stupid, like its super model stupid, like you should eat half a crouton after saying it and complain about how much weight you've gained from it. But sadly, a large number if intelligent non-supermodels fall for scams like this all the time.

Just like past generations that would believe everything that they read in the paper or hear on the news we now do it with social media. The number of people who get their news from Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites is rising. How often are you seeing people post news stories on these sites compared to a few years ago. Not a lot of research is required.

The problem is that most people don't question things they read on the internet because it's posted by someone they know and trust. So they're basically applying the faith they have in that person to the article the person is showing them. I submit for your approval "Octopus paxarbolis", the endangered Pacific Northwest tree octopus.

My God man, just look at me, I'm lovable!

There was a study conducted several years ago by the University of Connecticut and the U.S. Department of Education to test students ability to utilize the internet for research on their projects.  The subject of the study was a ficticious animal called the tree octopus which had it's own fake website which was used as a part of the hoax.

They did not make it difficult for the students to catch that it was a fake.  The poor tree dwelling criters we supposedly endangered because of demand from the fashion industry as they were supposedly used as decorations on clothing.  Of course is also the threat of their natural predator the Sasquatch.  Yes, the also very not real Bigfoot is their greatest enemy.  But honestly who could blame him for swatting at a freaking Octopus hanging from a tree? 

Here's where the story gets scary, as if the idea of a freaking Octopus falling out of a tree wasn't scary enough. A majority of the students who took part in the study, completely fell for it. But the really disturbing part is this...not only did the students believe that the tree octopus was real, but when the researchers told them that the creature was fake some of them actually refused to believe them.  They insisted that the creture was real and the researchers were lying. Future conspiracy theorists in training.

This is not something that is typical to only children.  Reporters have been getting duped by similar fake stories as well.  Recently even the government of North Korea fell victim to a fake story by a satirical website called "The Onion" which had proclaimed Kim Jung Un the sexiest man alive.
Sadly, it's supposed to be the job of a reporter to research a subject and present their readers with the truth.  But some have been taking the easy way out and reposting another person's article without researching themselves.  Because of that, several fake stories have recently been published on multiple news web sites.  Once it's posted to social media there's almost no stopping it.

Web sites dedicated to disproving hoaxes and urban legends have actually been having trouble tracking down if a story is true or not, because so many news organizations are publishing the stories as true without doing the research themselves. So, the next time you read on Facebook that Homeland security is going door to door taking our guns, try doing a little research...before you panic and kill the postal worker who was trying to deliver your mail.  I think we'll all be a little better off, but don't take my word for it.