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'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: 4, Insightful) by ledow on Wednesday March 13 2019, @05:23PM (1 child)
Better - the kids now know exactly what to go looking for, and the teenagers old enough to code things up for a joke will now actually go and make one of these things.
Source: I work in schools.
As always, the same old advice. Either educate your children to a maturity level where they are comfortable to tell you when they feel uncomfortable online, or do not allow them on the Internet unsupervised.
No, not even "just for ten minutes".
No, don't assume a filter is safe.
No, don't assume that their friends won't be showing them friends.
No, don't assume that the child will "obviously" tell you everything because you have "such a good relationship".
Deny, Supervise, Educate, Hope for the best. In that chronological order, as they age.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday March 13 2019, @10:50PM
A case of not stuffing beans up one's nose [wikipedia.org] at its finest.
This sig for rent.