As the next generation of 911 systems is being worked on, experts have fears of an increase in swatting incidents. Swatting is the act of calling in a fake emergency call designed to have a SWAT team deployed to the target’s location. Swatting is often attributed to hostility (or a practical joke) between rival online gamers, although of course people who play online games are not the only ones to call in false 911 calls.
Remember War of the Worlds? Well essentially the exact same thing happened this past week on Twitter, as thousands of people tuned in, horrified, to watch the play-by-play updates of the search for a missing girl, Kamo, which culminated in the discovery of her rape and murder. Only it never happened.
It’s the Internet-age old conundrum: How can you tell if something in your Facebook news feed is a hoax or scam? This week Facebook announced that they will start tagging hoaxes for you in your newsfeed. Actually, they will start letting you know when other users have identified and tagged something as a hoax.
There is another rash of the Facebook privacy notice disclaimer hoax going around Facebook. This is the disclaimer where the Facebook user takes a stand and says that Facebook cannot use their content. Bullpuckey, of course they can use your content – you agreed to that when you signed up for a Facebook account.
If you hear about the “bikini bridge” gap, here is the most important thing to remember – the bikini bridge isn’t a real thing; the current bikini bridge frenzy is a hoax, dreamed up by the folks over on the 4Chan /b/ board. Of course, it’s getting so much traction that the bikini bridge could well become a thing.