'Momo' may be 'dead,' but experts say avoiding the next hoax is up to us
[...] So how did we get here? How did this apparent hoax, now just the latest fodder for internet memes, wind up causing panic among parents in countries from India to Colombia, from the UK to the United States, and from the Houses of Parliament to U.S. police agencies?
[...] Laura Hazard Owen, deputy editor of Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab, called the "Momo challenge" phenomenon "the most fascinating/unique fake news story I've covered in awhile." The problem, she said, was that most of the news stories warning people about "Momo" appeared to be based on hearsay. One local news station, she pointed out, "simply interviewed a 5-year-old," while others ran with anecdotes from parents who had heard from their child that they had heard from another child... you get the point.
[...] "Unless you can watch all media, TV and news, consciously, step back from it, get a little distance and ask yourself what's being said, you're going to be taken in," Dr. Mramor argued. "It's like when you're watching a scary movie and get sucked into the plot... be a conscious consumer," she said. "And if more people were, this would never have happened. We wouldn't even be talking about this story."
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Wednesday March 13 2019, @12:54PM (4 children)
Me too, or mo to in this case.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday March 13 2019, @05:28PM (3 children)
I don't want to see any more of this. Or mo of this.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday March 13 2019, @10:39PM (2 children)
You guys are meanies. I want my momo!
This sig for rent.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Thursday March 14 2019, @02:24AM (1 child)
Hey you kids...get off my mom!
Wait......wha?
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday March 14 2019, @07:10PM
We could always film a documentary about this... Momo' Better Blues.
This sig for rent.