What People Get Wrong This Week: the Facebook Serial Killer
This week I’m looking at two fictional characters created by the Internet’s collective unconscious. The first is “Robert Thibodeau,” a serial killer who terrorizes Facebook so much that people are forced to share his image. The second is Elon Man, a heroic fictional version of Elon Musk whose brave deeds are recounted nightly around the digital fire pit on the social media feeds of relatives you blocked years ago.
Meet the Facebook Serial Killer
Breathless Facebook users across the country are reporting that a serial killer is on the loose. Robert Thibodeau, 52, reported victims in South Florida; Salem, Massachusetts; Las Cruces, New Mexico; and dozens of other communities. No matter where he goes, Thibodeau’s methods are the same. Judging by the posts:
This person is knocking on people’s doors claiming to be homeless and looking for help, and he attacks you after gaining your trust. He is ruthless and very dangerous. On Thursday, he attacked a 37-year-old single mother with a knife and left her fighting for her life… he also stole a car from an 83-year-old grandmother under the guise of helping her unload groceries from her car. . If you see him, call the police and be careful. Warn others.
As you can see above, there’s even a photo of him. I made this anonymous because, as you’ve probably guessed, there isn’t actually a serial killer named Robert Thibodeau who preys on 37-year-old single mothers in our country and steals the Gran Torino from every 83-year-old grandmother. The guy in the photo is not named Thibodeau, and as far as we know, he didn’t attack anyone with a knife. (He allegedly prefers hiding cameras in women’s restrooms ). It all amounts to an elaborate bait-and-switch scheme .
True Crime on Facebook
Over the past few days, nameless scammers have infiltrated hundreds of local Facebook groups, posted a photo of a stranger and called him a serial killer. The idea is to get people to engage with the post, comment, like and share it. Once it rises in the algorithmic rankings, the scammers change the picture to a link to some scam or other – a survey for free money, a sales pitch, an offer for “free dental services” – but the real goal is to get personal information , which users can opt out of.
This isn’t a new type of online scam, but according to the Better Business Bureau , social media “bait and switch” schemes are on the rise, and they specifically target local social media groups. Fake posts vary in topic. Sometimes they’re about a lost dog that was hit by a car and can only be reunited with its family if you share the post; sometimes it’s a missing child ; and sometimes it’s a serial killer. The common thread is that these are all highly emotional topics designed to get people to hit “share” without having to consult their brains or take five seconds to see if it’s actually true. As Sheriff Shannon Beasley of Tipton County, Tennessee put it, “You can be pretty sure that if someone this violent is on the loose, you’ll find that information on our page.” (Almost?)
One Simple Trick to Beat Facebook Scammers
Jeffrey Blevins, a University of Cincinnati professor who specializes in misinformation, advises you to cross-check Facebook’s claims with another source. Cybersecurity expert David Derigiotis says you should look at the profile of someone posting something suspicious to make sure they don’t have connections to other Facebook users. The Better Business Bureau suggests you do a reverse image search on Google to find images you think are fake. But these are all half measures. If you really can’t spot a Facebook scam without a reverse image search, you should delete your Facebook; they are going to trip you up after all. Even if you don’t fall for scammers, you should delete Facebook just like that.
The further adventures of Elon Man
A few weeks ago, I dove into a fictional version of Elon Musk that was created by an AI so stupid people could watch YouTube videos. Elon Man is an American folk hero who changes the lives of waitresses at Waffle House and saves schoolchildren from bullies . Here are just a few of his recent adventures:
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Elon Man was kicked out of a hospital for wearing a MAGA hat , even though he owns the hospital. He was kicked out of a car dealership he also owns and an airplane he owns . (Elon’s super fans seem to be very responsive to revenge stories after getting kicked out of a place.)
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After “Black Boy” (their words, not mine) helped Elon’s mother change a flat tire, Elon Man gave the child a Cybertruck and a full scholarship to engineering school.
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The “Old Janitor” returned his lost watch, so Elon-Man gave him a new home and built a community center to be named in his honor .
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Elon Man met a homeless engineer and put him in charge of Project Horizon, a robotics lab developing a “fully autonomous rescue robot.”
Musk is not just a hero, he is also a supervillain. Since I’m impartial, here are some of the dastardly deeds of Bizarro Elon Man, the liberal supervillain.