Why do Death Hoaxes Haunt Twitter?

With the advent of Twitter, many trends, fads and fashions have begun from 140 characters.

Of course, many of these are indeed happy, joyful entities, as with anything in life, there are of course a few darker bodies from specific corners of Twitter, which have in the past, been given a little too much light.

Over the past five years or so, one of the many things to have been trending on the site is the phenomenon of the ‘death hoax’.

Though the idea itself is nothing new, with Paul McCartney having suffered from rumours in the seventies and Charlie Chaplin before him, Twitter has given rise to a new platform in which the obsession over death has been given a wider spotlight.

We’ve all been privy to RIP hashtags in the past, but very rarely have we known the individuals to have started them. With that interesting fact in mind, why are the rumours started?

Diego based clinical psychologist, Michael Mantell says:

“Twitter allows liars to creatively manipulate a sense of power over tens or hundreds of thousands of followers.

“The power they wield works because they play on our adoration of the stars they write about coupled with our emotions upon hearing of a ‘death’ or tragedy occurring to them, blinding our rational thinking and normal scepticism.”

Anything therefore, that we have ever thought or assumed about a figure is drawn to a significant emotional conclusion upon their death.

The problem is of course, that death hoaxes are a continuing problem for not only celebrities but media channels as well, which have in the past been all too quick to report the rumours.

So why do we continue to believe, if not encourage such rumours?

Mantell Continues:

“Social media also allows us to see immediately a large number of others who ‘believe the hoax’ by the sheer outpouring of grief, shock and wailing, which we instantly believe must be true if everyone else is believing it.

“We think, ‘If so many people are reacting, it must be true.’”

The overlying issue is the fact that such rumours can be started by anyone, and depending on the kind of account used, they can do so with complete anonymity.

The best advice therefore, is to wait until a credible news source has reported the same story.

But how do these hoaxes affect the ‘dead’?

In 2009, Zach Braff was subject to his very own hoax where according to rumours, he had committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. To add to the issue CNN also reported the story, amplifying the possibility that Braff had indeed died.

There can be indeed a whole range of reactions, and in a way that he is celebrated for, Braff quickly took to the internet and posted a humorous video response to YouTube.

Though Braff’s response was funny, there is - as briefly noted in his video - a sad, significant and unseen human element to the hoaxes. One which is often overlooked, though always felt.

In 2012, Bill Cosby also fell victim to a hoax. He responded to the rumours via his Twitter account, stating:

“Emotional friends have called about this misinformation. To the people behind the foolishness, I’m not sure you see how upsetting this is.”

It is without doubt that debate over celebrity privacy will always ensue, though should hoaxes be just another issue for public figures to get used to?

If television shows such as Punk’d and even Catfish are anything to go by, the cultural obsession over pranking and hoaxes will always exist, though serious matters such as life and death, are probably worth dismissing altogether – if only for the human element itself.