I’ve seen this phenomenon before. Some big rumor starts on the internet and it is automatically forwarded around to everyone else’s address book contacts. I tend to loose respect for people who proliferate rumors without first examining it to see if it is true or not.
Today’s example is Hillary Clinton’s support for a Black Panther murderer. It’s untrue. Yet people continue to spread rumors like this without verification. It’s amazing. They must be thinking if a text message comes into their emailbox, then it HAS to be true. If you think you are changing the world by forwarding around stupid messages in your inbox, I’ve got some oceanfront property in Arizona for you. Buy a ticket to the cluetrain, people. And this cluetrain is snopes.com. Tickets are free. Available at your computer desktop in the form of a big giant E.
How do these rumors start? I don’t know. But I do know how they are spread. I am fairly sure that some people have email just to forward around jokes, rumors, and urban legends to other people. That’s all. No real personal messages. Just rehashes of the same text forwarded over and over again. Redundancy on email servers. It’s a never ending cycle. Who will be the next to start the latest AOL virus rumor? Who will be the next to forward that rumor around?
“Cluetrain” – I like that word. I didn’t make it up. I wish I had….