Twitter Rumors

I follow close to 3,000 people on Twitter and am witness to all types of crazy conversations, shared thoughts and heated debates. People find answers, love, new jobs and invaluable advice on Twitter.  At the same time - hundreds of rumors are started, secrets are told, and news stories are leaked everyday on Twitter, making it the place to find and debate the best gossip around.

I was sucked into a twitter rumor today. It was tweeted and I contemplated it, questioned it with my followers and searched Google to find the truth. After my investigation, I am pleased to Announce to the World that Jared Fogel, Subway's legendary spokesman, is not, in fact, dead. I was so sad this morning when I was unsure, but now I am sure -- Jared is still alive not only in our hearts, but also on this earth. Hooray!

I would love to know, how many rumors are started, debated and killed on Twitter daily. The birth and lifecycle of twumors (twitterrumors) is fast paced, and well nutured by all of us who participate. There are pages of twitter search results from today alone, with people announcing, denouncing and debating Jared's death. 

I am also quite interested to know who is behind jaredremembered.com. Subway and its agencies? Some random dude in San Diego? Apparently, the rumor was debated as early as August of last year. And where are Jared's fans and supporters defending his life? Long live Jared! In any case, hat tip to the mastermind(s) - you got me.

Comments

[theregoesdave]

Can you believe it was on the FP of Digg earlier this week too!? I admit that I was drawn into it as well until I went to tell a friend and realized that I didn't really have a credible news source and stopped mid-sentence.

[Dan]

That site has a poem called Little Pants, Big Heart and is © 2008 Last Sandwich Jared Fogel Memorial Fund. I say it's real.

[Brad Brown]

The sad thing was that when I heard that Jared had died, my first thought was "I can do that job...I want his job!" I'm a chubby white guy who loves Subway, so I think I'm qualified [I suppose I'd be more qualified if I were a formerly-chubby thin guy who loves Subway]. Then my hopefulness turned to sadness when I learned he was still alive. Maybe next time...

[Bernard Ramsey]

I heard it was a Meatball sub that did him in. Jaredremembered.com is a trip.

[Ricardo Bueno]

Jared was all the rave with Subway years ago! Haven't seen him around much in commercials lately so I'd probably get sucked into the rumor too... Whats' funny about the twitterverse is that news spreads like wildfire! You don't need to be near a computer to see Tweets and send/receive updates. Probably why it's so easy for rumors to originate and spread so quickly without question.