7 posts and columns on hoax

Meet the Prankster Brothers Behind "Jenny," the Whiteboard-Using, Farmville-Exposing, HPOA Girl

in Media on August 10, 2010 at 2:00 pm PT

John and Leo Resig fooled the media in 2007 with a made-up story about Donald Trump. Now they’re making headlines again.

How to Hoodwink Twitter (Hint: It’s Easy)

in Media on March 15, 2010 at 3:00 am PT

You don’t need to get a group of Digg fans to spread a fake story on Twitter. But it’s a pretty effective way to do it.

Twitter Didn’t Kill Gordon Lightfoot. Big Media Did.

in Media on February 19, 2010 at 3:00 am PT

It’s easy to blame Twitter for falsely reporting that the guy who sings “Sundown” is dead. But you can’t pin this one on the messaging service or its users, who were merely repeating what a big Canadian news service had told them.

Prankster Jason Calacanis Talks About His Apple iPad Hoax (Warning: Cute Baby Alert!)

in News on February 1, 2010 at 5:05 am PT

While in Los Angeles for a brief second on Friday, BoomTown motored over to the Brentwood home of puckish entrepreneur Jason Calacanis to talk to him about his prank tweets the night before the introduction of the iPad last week. On Tuesday night before the much hyped launch of the newest device from Apple, Calacanis let loose with a series of over-the-top posts to Twitter, claiming he was a beta tester for the iPad tablet computer–assertions that some in the mostly mainstream media took too seriously. Was it a jump-the-shark moment for journalism?

Does Checkbook Blogging Pay Off? “Hard to Measure,” Says Gawker Media’s Nick Denton.

in Media on October 19, 2009 at 3:00 am PT

Another scandal, another Gawker story, and another payday for the person who sold Gawker the news. No big deal, says Nick Denton, the blog impresario: We’ll keep doing it.
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New from Google Labs: Google April Fools Overkill

in News on April 1, 2009 at 8:59 am PT

If 2008 (or 2007, 06, 05, 04…) was the year April Fools on the Web jumped the shark, then 2009 was the year it was eaten by it. The Web is so overburdened with pranks this year, it may be that the best April Fools announcement of all proves to be Palm’s, a company promising to deliver real news and not some over-thought hoax. Google alone has posted no fewer than 12 pranks–and none of them match Pigeon Rank in wit.
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