Another beloved star has fallen… or have they? And how do you find out if it is true? Have you caught yourself sharing the notification of someone who had died only to be embarrassed later to find that they are still alive, and humbly deleted your Facebook share?
Here’s a prime example. Anthony Hopkins apparently died last Friday, from heart failure, at 10.30pm. The devastating news was of course distributed first via Twitter. But it only takes one share to send it viral.
The New York Daily News lists a star-studded line up of celebrities wrongly reported to have died and Anthony Hopkins is just the latest.
It’s terrible for the families of the person, an embarrassment for those who share them, annoying for fans, but sometimes an amusement for the person them self.
Cher, Paul McCartney, Robert Redford, Carlos Santana, even youngsters like Macaulay Culkin have been falsely reported dead.
The Dead or Alive website is a quick way to find out the truth of a claim of a celebrity’s death, and save yourself or others unnecessary upset or embarrassment.
Disbelief is the first reaction to shock news, so these hoaxes are emotionally cruel on a wide scale.
Whether it is true or not the initial reaction of shock is real.