Shocking Social Media Stories

               Since the invention of the internet and the world wide web, quadrillions of information have been shared among billions of people from all over the world. This ability to share information seamlessly across billions of connected computers gave birth to the Social media which many understand to be basically Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. However, they are simply virtual communities that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression.

Fast forward to the year 2017 and you’ll realize that the Social media has grown (2.3 billion active social media users) and evolved into a madhouse collection of some really funny and shocking stories that you can classify as being completely absurd. I’ve scoured the web to find a collection of 7 shocking social media stories you’ll ever see. Here are 7 shocking social media stories that you’ll find interesting:

1. The Hacking Of FOX/NBC:

In 2014, the Hackers group called ‘Skript Kiddies’ hacked into the Twitter accounts of both FOX and NBC. They posted tweets indicating that President Obama had been assassinated and that Ground Zero had been attacked. This quickly sent social media into a frenzy, but fortunately both media networks quickly deleted the false tweets and worked with Twitter to prevent further intrusions.

2. 4AutoInsuranceQuote.com’s Bizarre Tweets:

The next day after The Fast and furious star Paul Walker died in a car crash, 4AutoInsuranceQuote.com tweeted a message directly to the actor’s Twitter handle (@RealPaulWalker) that it hoped Paul Walker had car insurance for the crash. This of course resulted in a public outrage and waves of social media backlash.

3. Shooting of An Elephant:

Everyone on social media was in shock after the CEO of popular web host GoDaddy, CEO Bob Parsons, released a video of him shooting an Elephant in Zimbabwe. This angered the general community and caused outraged customers to close their accounts with his company.

4. Gilbert Gottfried:

Japan suffered a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 and a period of intense mourning for everyone followed. However, Gilbert Gottfried had other plans. Four days later, popular actor Gilbert Gottfried posted insensitive jokes about the disaster on Twitter. Consequently, he was fired from his position as a spokesperson with Aflac.

5. Weiner’s Underwear:

Congressman Anthony Weiner, In May 2011, tweeted a sexually promiscuous photo of his underwear to a college student named Gennette Cordova. He however claimed that his account was hacked and the photo was posted by the hackers but people didn’t really care. The photo went viral and the social media controversy it generated forced Weiner to resign from office.

6. U.S. Airways’ Pornographic Tweet:

In April 2014, U.S. Airways posted a link on Twitter to a salacious picture that quickly went viral. CNN and other major media outlets also reported on it. This was not the work of Hackers but rather a mistake by an employee of the company. The U.S. Airways stood by the employee responsible claiming that it was an honest mistake.

One thing is certain, we haven’t seen it all. More crazy and unexpected social media stories will continue to flood the internet every day and there’s no better feeling than spotting them yourself.