What makes internet hoaxes successful?
There are three key factors that contribute to the success of virus hoaxes. • Ignorance: If you receive a warning hoax, and you know for a fact that it is not true, then the hoax is dead. • Compassion: When most of us hear these stories, we immediately feel the need to share this information with our colleagues and loved ones so that we can protect them. Or if it’s a plea for help, we genuinely want to help, especially if all it requires is sending e-mail to all your friends. Also, some of us just want to show off to the people we work with by being the first one to warn the rest of the office about a virus. Whatever the reason, we do have the urge to share such information with others. • E-mail Efficiency: If such warnings could not be spread to a lot of people, in a short period of time, they would not work. Imagine what it would take to write a virus warning letter, make 100 photocopies, address 100 envelopes, put postage on them all, and then put them all in a mailbox. Not only wou
