8 Viral Hoaxes That Made The Internet Freak Out In

8 Viral Hoaxes That Made The Internet Freak Out In 2014

 

 Emma Watson's Nude Photo Hack

  

Let's face it. A lot of us get most of our news while killing time on Twitter and Facebook, not by tuning in to CNN or poring over the Times. You'd think that having proximity to Google and Wikipedia would prompt people to fact-check said news, but that's not always the case. One person tweets that X celebrity has died and countless obituaries are posted before anyone bothers to check for a pulse. Just ask Justin Bieber or Lil Wayne — both of them supposedly died this year.

 Of course, you can't really fault people who fall for every gossip-mongering headline they come across. If nothing else, 2014 has proved that the truth really is stranger than fiction sometimes. Hello — North Korea is having a fit over a James Franco movie, and Cameron Diaz is marrying the guy from Good Charlotte. By that standard, we'd believe almost anything.

  

Emma Watson's Nude Photo Hack !!!

Big phew on this one. Earlier this fall, hackers claimed that they would release nude photos of the Harry Potter star for all to see. It then emerged that there were no such videos, and that the threat was just a ploy to inspire a viral marketing campaign against 4chan. Lame.

 

 Atlanta Hates Justin Bieber

 The Biebs has had a crazy year. He "died in a car crash" in January, and a month later his rumored move to Atlanta drew angry protests from its citizens. At least, that's what people thought. Turns out an Atlanta radio station staged the mock protest with a few placard-holding interns, and everyone bought it.

The Drunk Girl Video

 Remember that video showing a girl being catcalled by dudes while pretending to be drunk ? Yep, it was a viral marketing hoax. Pretty annoying when you consider how important the issue is.

A Tale Of Three... Boobs !

You mean Jasmine Tridevil didn't actually undergo surgery to have a Cyclops-y Third breast implanted? It was all just a ploy to get famous? Shocking.

 Hugh Hefner Death Hoax

 Hefner's still kicking it, according to this festive Instagram posted by his wife, Crystal. The Playboy founder was said to have died on December 28, but it looks like the Internets got it wrong.

Macaulay Culkin Plays Dead

Also still alive: Macaulay Culkin,

who responded to his own death reports with a hilarious Weekend at Bernie's-style shoot. Justin Bieber, Lil Wayne, Betty White, and Kirk Douglas did also not die.

Niall Horan Leaving One Direction

Here's why #ReasonsNiallLeftOneDirection is a trending topic today: Hackers apparently posted a false item on Yahoo Celebrity UK and Sugarscape reporting that Niall Horan (the blond one) had split from the boy band. It's not true. Everyone go about your business.

January 4 Is Going To Rock Your World

Despite what everyone on Facebook is saying,Jupiter and Pluto's planetary alignment this week will not cause momentary weightlessness. Gravity, guys. You're stuck with it.