SMALL PRINT: With a hacked Fox News account tweeting about the "assassination" of Barack Obama, the rumour vortex at Twitter is back. Here's a selection of the best worst Twitter hoaxes.
Oxford Street shooting
In January a leaked Scotland Yard document, detailing how police would deal with a shooting in a shopping centre, made many Twitter users conclude that a gunman was loose in Oxford Street. A separate tweet about a “street-style shooting”, referring to a photo-shoot, added to the confusion. “Oxford Street” became a top trend, and several overzealous users ended up embarrassed about jumping the gun.
Miley Cyrus RIP
Celebrity deaths are the Twitter national sport. At the end of 2009 Peaches Geldof unwisely tweeted that a “friend in the industry” had told her that pop sensation Miley Cyrus was dead. Luckily, Cyrus was performing at the O2 Arena in London at the time. Geldof’s friend must have been in the bad-rumour industry. Geldof later apologised for distressing Cyrus fans.
Winning with Charlie Sheen?
When Charlie Sheen (inset) announced he was looking for an intern and received 82,000 applications for the job, it was obvious fodder for someone to step forward and claim they got the gig. Enter Johnny Campbell, a Belfast student who convinced the internet, radio station CityBeat and
UTV Live
that he was Sheen’s new lackey. Campbell said he was proving his ability to harness the power of social media.
Osama bin Laden and The IT Crowd
Graham Linehan started the viral rumour when he tweeted in May: “Does anyone have confirmation that Osama was watching
The IT Crowd
in these home movies? Amazing if true. Don’t know how to feel.” The tweet, intended as a joke, turned from gag to “fact” when other media then reported that bin Laden was a fan of the show. Linehan stoked the flames, saying he had been sent footage by the Irish Embassy in Washington of bin Laden watching his series.
– UNA MULLALLY
