The Fastest Cell Phone Rumor

A week or so after the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, a rumor spread in Ghana that there would be an earthquake. No one has been able to trace the source of the rumor but what was confirmed was the speed at which the rumor spread. Within one day, primarily via text message and sometimes phone calls, this rumor was able to spread throughout the entire country and many did not sleep that night. In fact, many spent the night in open fields and parks waiting for the tremor that never came.

 

This is the picture that came along with the story. The picture does not tell the story as much as one with a group of people sitting on a field in the middle of the night would have. It could have been taken from anywhere and used for this story. The unique use of technology to play a national hoax is impressive though. I laughed when I first heard the story from a friend and almost didn’t believe it. He also mentioned that the reality of the situation did not dawn people as quickly and some were going about their day wondering when the earthquake would come. Meteorologists did eventually confirm that there was indeed no earthquake to come and calm has since been restored.