Alex Boese has put together a terrific analysis of last weekend's spate of celebrity death rumors, including these pithy observations:
To riff on those insights a bit further, sociologists also say pranks can serve as initiation rites, ways of inducting newbies into a group while reaffirming their status as newbies (think hazing rituals in fraternities and sororities, for example).
In a social network based on information sharing — where, logic would dictate, truth and accuracy are at a premium — what better way to put newbies in their place than by tricking them into spreading falsehoods? Self-contradictory as it may seem, the behavior is ultimately instructive and actually reinforces group standards and values. Being duped is a rite of passage. This strikes me as a plausible, if speculative, interpretation of the social phenomenon at hand.
Share your comments below!
Read more:
• The Great Death Rumor Craze of 2009
• April Fool! The Purpose of Pranks
Status seeking is an important motive in why people spread these rumors. Being able to pass along new information makes people feel important in the eyes of their friends, even if the information later turns out to be bogus. Similarly, pranksters like to make up these hoaxes to gain approval from their social groups.All of which rings true. Alex does a fine job of synthesizing the insights of sociologists and rumor psychologists, and I agree with every point he makes.
Rumors often serve as a form of entertainment and emotional release. It gives people a way to project their anxieties onto the world. In fact, rumors often spread without being believed, which seems to be the case with the recent death hoaxes.
To riff on those insights a bit further, sociologists also say pranks can serve as initiation rites, ways of inducting newbies into a group while reaffirming their status as newbies (think hazing rituals in fraternities and sororities, for example).
In a social network based on information sharing — where, logic would dictate, truth and accuracy are at a premium — what better way to put newbies in their place than by tricking them into spreading falsehoods? Self-contradictory as it may seem, the behavior is ultimately instructive and actually reinforces group standards and values. Being duped is a rite of passage. This strikes me as a plausible, if speculative, interpretation of the social phenomenon at hand.
Share your comments below!
Read more:
• The Great Death Rumor Craze of 2009
• April Fool! The Purpose of Pranks
Comments
Sometimes celebrity children are believed to be dead. Supposedly Bret Michaels little girl recently died. I guess it was a little ghost that just visited him in the hspital and gave him a ghost card and ACTUALLY ate cookies. WOW! Quite a little ghost.