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I finally saw a hoax spread in real time at my kid's school event.
It was a fall festival in Austin, maybe 5 years back. Someone started a rumor about a clown with a knife in the parking lot. Saw it go from a whisper to full panic on parents' phones in under 10 minutes. Cops showed up, found nothing. Made me realize you can't just trust a text chain, you have to check. Anyone else have a moment like that where a fake story got way out of hand?
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wilson.olivia23d ago
Man, I have to say I see it the other way around. That clown story is exactly why you should be careful, but it doesn't mean you can't trust anyone. Most of the time, my neighborhood text chain is just people asking about a lost cat or a loud noise. The problem isn't the tool, it's that people forget to pause for a second before hitting forward. We just need to be a little less quick to panic.
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jake_patel23d ago
Remember that weird story about the alligator in the New York sewer? It started as a joke but my uncle still believes it, which shows how these things just stick around forever. Makes you wonder what else we all just accept as true.
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