{"id":38901,"date":"2022-10-30T13:00:32","date_gmt":"2022-10-30T17:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/angry.net\/blog2\/?p=38901"},"modified":"2022-10-30T13:00:32","modified_gmt":"2022-10-30T17:00:32","slug":"once-again-the-msm-falls-for-a-prank-that-makes-them-look-even-dumber-then-usual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/angry.net\/blog2\/?p=38901","title":{"rendered":"Once again, the MSM falls for a prank that makes them look even dumber then usual"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good day all. When Elon Musk closed on the deal to buy Twitter last Thursday, the first thing he did was fire the CEO, CFO and Chief Censor. There were pictures of them being escorted from the building with their personal items in card board boxes.<\/p>\n

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Add to this the rumors that up to 75% of the Twitter employees were going to be laid off, and the perfect storm arose to stick it to the media. Here are the hilarious details from the New York Post<\/b><\/a>:<\/p>\n

A pair of pranksters posing as laid-off Twitter employees tricked multiple media outlets Friday as the public anxiously awaited news on whether Elon Musk had begun axing staffers. <\/b><\/p>\n

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CNBC\u2019s Deirdre Bosa interviewed two people who identified themselves as Twitter employees and were seen near the company\u2019s San Francisco headquarters carrying cardboard boxes. <\/b><\/p>\n

Skepticism immediately emerged on social media. One of the pranksters said his name was \u201cRahul Ligma\u201d \u2014 a reference to a popular internet meme \u2014 and held a copy of Michelle Obama\u2019s book \u201cBecoming\u201d aloft while speaking to reporters. The other said his name was \u201cDaniel Johnson.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

And here we have the difference between \u201cJournalists\u201d and reporters. Journalists are all about \u201cThe message, in this case that Musk had begun the anticipated mass firings. A reporter would have called Twitter\u2019s HR department and asked if these two were or had been employees. Instead, the journalists simply took everything at face value.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s happening,\u201d CNBC\u2019s Bosa tweeted. Entire team of data engineers let go. These are two of them.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThey are visibly shaken,\u201d Bosa added. \u201cDaniel tells us he owns a Tesla and doesn\u2019t know how he\u2019s going to make payments.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

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ABC7 Bay Area reporter Suzanne Phan also tweeted about the alleged Twitter employees, writing that one had claimed \u201che was terminated during a zoom meeting.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

LEAVING TWITTER: an employee leaving Twitter today. Says he was terminated during a zoom meeting. Doesn\u2019t know where he is going to work next. Says he is going to spend time with his family. #ABC7newsbayarea #ABC7now #Twitter #SF #BayArea pic.twitter.com\/Txvs5fsa9y<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 Suzanne Phan (@SuzannePhan) October 28, 2022<\/b><\/p>\n

Shortly afterwards, those who actually work at Twitter started going \u201cWTF, Over? Who are these guys?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bloomberg<\/a> later reported that Twitter\u2019s internal slack channels have \u201clit up with suspicion\u201d that it was a hoax. The Verge confirmed<\/a> the duo were not actually ex-Twitter workers and had carried out a hoax. <\/b><\/p>\n

So it looks like someone at the Verge is actually a reporter and not a journalist and did something no journalist would ever think of doing. Making some calls and finding out if these two did work at Twitter.<\/p>\n

As chatter about a potential hoax intensified, Bosa acknowledged there was confusion about whether layoffs were actually underway. CNBC updated its story to acknowledge it wasn\u2019t immediately able to verify their identities. <\/b><\/p>\n

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It was at this point that people started calling Twitter and people they knew in Twitter to find out about these two clever guys.<\/p>\n

Paul Lee, a product manager at Twitter, was among those who called out CNBC over its report. <\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cQuite ironic that a major news outlet failed to do basic diligence and fell for a crisis actor prank, resulting in the spread of misinfo, on the first day of new ownership,\u201d Lee tweeted. \u201cAll you had to do was ask to see a badge or look for bird-themed stuff in the boxes. Also we don\u2019t use Zoom.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

Finally, someone figured out that they had been had and started asking questions, you know, the ones they should have been asking when these two should up.<\/p>\n

Questions being raised if these are legitimate employees. I asked someone sitting at the front desk, they wouldn’t comment but told me “I’ve never seen those 2 guys.” https:\/\/t.co\/y16K4cK4ty<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 Yasmin Khorram (@YasminKhorram) October 28, 2022<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cYou got conned. Name is \u2018Rahul LIGMA.\u2019 C\u2019mon man,\u201d another Twitter user wrote. <\/b><\/p>\n

Of course it\u2019s easy to see how these two pulled this off. They simply played to the preconceived notions of the Mostly Stupid Media. I seriously doubt that they expected this to work as well as it did. All I can say to this is\u2026<\/p>\n

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Thatisall<\/p>\n\"1\"2\"3\"4\"5 (3<\/strong> votes, average: 5.00<\/strong> out of 5)
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~The Angry Webmaster~<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n