5 Bullshit Stories the Whole Internet Fell For  The internet
loves bullshit. While many of its denizens will brag of their
skepticism, claim thousands of readers make the best fact-
checkers, and say the web holds the mainstream media
accountable, the fact remains that made-up bullshit still drives
huge traffic, if it's marketed right. Hence, "13-year-old Steals
Dad's Credit Car to Buy Hookers," a realistic-looking "news
story" posted on some financial site no one had ever heard of
before called monkey.co.uk. The fact that there were no sources
other than this dodgy domain didn't stop the story from making
the front page of Digg and Fark and racking up probably hundreds
of thousands of views. Then "real" news sites began picking it
up. It made the UK Sun's print edition. This tale was invented
by an online marketer to boost a client's SEO ranking. And no
one on Digg or anywhere else BUSTED the hoax. Nor do they bother
to debunk any of the rest of the snappily headlined bullshit
that makes the rounds every day.