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"8 Social Media Hoaxes You Fell for This Year\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n1. Fake Hurricane Sandy Pictures\nWhile everyone waited the arrival of Hurricane Sandy, social media users shared completely fake storm images, including this one, which combined a New York harbor photo with a 2004 picture, taken by photographer Mike Hollingshead.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2. The Future Isn't Here Yet\nRemember that scene in Back To The Future, when Doc sets the DeLorean to an obscure future date? On June 27, 2012, a Photohopped image pitted that day as \"the future,\" and the rumor spread quickly on Facebook. Except that day day wasn't \"the future\" -- the clock is actually set for Oct. 21, 2015.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n3. #BaldforBieber\nIn October, a hoax involving Justin Bieber encouraged fans to shave their heads to support the pop star, who -- according to the false rumor -- was recently diagnosed with cancer. A video posted to YouTube included fake, Photoshopped tweets from his account announcing the news and pictures of fans shaving their heads for support. #BaldforBieber also started to trend in the U.S.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n4. Facebook Shutting Down\nA rumor that Facebook planned to shut down its site on March 15 made the rounds earlier this year, claiming CEO Mark Zuckerberg \u201Cwants his old life back\u201D and desires to \u201Cput an end to all the madness.\u201D A Facebook spokesperson later debunked the rumor, saying \u201Cthe answer is no, so please help us put an end to this silliness.\u201D \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n5. Morgan Freeman Death Rumors\nSocial media occasionally circulates false celebrity death rumors, but the alleged news about actor Morgan Freedman's passing in August took on a life of its own. His fake Facebook tribute pageraked in nearly 1 million Likes, and the rumors picked up again in October, when people on social networks shared their condolences.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n6. Bieber Naked Photos\n\nJustin Bieber was the subject of yet another hoax this year, and this time he was the one behind it. \nTo grow hype around his new song \u201CBeauty and the Beat,\u201D Justin Bieber tweeted that someone stole his laptop. However, the singer confronted someone claiming to be the thief on Twitter, who said they would release big news and a controversial video online the next day. It turned out to be a marketing ploy.\nBut the news ushered in a wave of security concerns. Some cybercriminals set phishing traps and lure unsuspecting consumers to click on malicious links based around pop culture news, especially when leaked photos are involved. And this is precisely what happened.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n7. Facebook Privacy Status Update\nIn June, a fake \"Facebook Privacy Notice\" took the social network by storm, urging users to re-post a message that would allegedly protect their privacy. The concept was based around the faux notion that the company's IPO would affect user privacy. Facebook members were quick to share the post, and before we knew it, the false claim had overtaken the site.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n8. Fake Kidnapping\n\nWhen a 16-year-old girl from New Jersey tweeted that someone was in her house and then mysteriously disappeared, Twitter users rallied around her message. Not only did #HelpFindKara trend worldwide on Twitter, nearly 34,000 people retweeted her call for help. But police discovered she actually faked her own kidnapping. \nThe news didn't sit well with the Internet \u2014 many said they were \"disgusted\" with her tweet, which caused fear in so many people. Police later found her walking alongside a highway and returned her safely to family.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIf we've learned anything about social media over the past few years, it's that things can go viral fast. So fast, in fact, users often get swept away in sharing news and don't double-check if what they're spreading even checks out. \nThis, dear web citizens, is how hoaxes spread like wildfire across Facebook and Twitter, and you're left shaking your fist at the computer screen. Just last week, the Internet users shared pictures of Hurricane Sandy that ended up being completely fake, from an image of a shark swimming in a New Jersey street to a picture of the Statue of Liberty surrounded by violent waves, which was actually taken from a scene in The Day After Tomorrow.\n\nSEE ALSO: 7 Fake Hurricane Sandy Photos You\u2019re Sharing on Social Media\nMeanwhile, a Photoshopped image from the film Back To The Future also went viral earlier this year. Social media users thought the date Doc set the DeLorean to in the future had finally arrived. Not only did thousands of people share the picture in a matter of hours, it wasn\u2019t the first time the hoax had occurred. (Haven't we learned anything, Internet?)\nHere's a look at what you fell for in 2012, from a Justin Bieber-related hoax that caused fans to shave their heads to a celebrity death rumor so believable it accrued nearly a million Facebook fans.\nDid you fall for any hoaxes this year? Let us know which ones in the comments below.\nThumbnail via iStockphoto"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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