Advertisement
Dublin: 8 °C Tuesday 19 March, 2024
Hoax

Here's how an Irish Twitter user fooled the British media with this fake Glastonbury infographic

Well played.

OVER THE WEEKEND, an infographic purporting to show how Glastonbury attendees voted surfaced on Twitter.

The infographic implied that Glastonbury was heavily Conservative with 74% of attendees voting that way in the recent elections.

And if anyone had any doubts as to its veracity, The Guardian logo was lobbed right in the corner of it to lend it some legitimacy.

The infographic was shared all over Twitter including by Guardian journalists Michael White and Polly Toynbee.

It was even cited in the Sunday Telegraph.

The only problem? It was all a big gag.

And the person responsible for tricking the British public/media establishment?

Irish Twitter user @PrayForPatrick.

He told DailyEdge.ie that he “did it for a laugh” and was amused to see how much traction the tweet got.

I wish I could say that I did it as a social experiment to show how easy it is to spread false information online and how this could be used to push a certain agenda by mainstream media, but I really just did it for a laugh because I had nothing better to be doing.
I was just amused that it spread so far really. But I did laugh at people discussing it in such detail and actually analysing the figures, which I deliberately made ridiculous.

The lesson here? Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.

This amazing photo from Glastonbury isn’t from Glastonbury at all >

11 talking points from Kanye’s performance at Glastonbury >

Your Voice
Readers Comments
3
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.