Celebrity deaths always cause a bit of a stir on social networking sites, and given the speed with which news spreads online, the likes of Twitter are used by many as the first port of call for confirming a rumour that they have heard.
Unfortunately, this also means that hoaxes can spread just as fast. While driving to work yesterday morning I heard the newsreader on the radio saying something like “Tributes have been pouring in for the Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall, whose death had been reported on Twitter…”
She went on to say that it was actually a prank, after which she read a tweet from Hucknall’s official account: “its officail [sic]..i’m dead..wow its lovely down here..nice and warm, gr8 parties..lots of rock n roll..” The manner in which the singer was meant to have met his demise was apparently a jet-ski crash. I must admit, I did chuckle to myself once they confirmed the story as fake, because this is not the first time that Twitter has gone into overdrive over reports of Mick Hucknall’s “death” – obviously he’s coming a bit of a cult hero for his would-be evasion of the Grim Reaper.
It just goes to show, don’t believe everything you read on internet!