It goes without saying that you shouldn’t believe everything you see on the social media. Don’t be a “mom”, filter out your information sources! That said, there are thousands of people who are just too pure to doubt even the most obvious of lies. Thanks to those gullible users we got ourselves quite a few fun internet myths that went viral, only to sizzle out in the end.
1) Dancing Billionaire
Meet 51 year-old Gianluca Vacchi – a mega-popular Instagram influencer from Italy. Gianluca went viral back in 2016 and became known as the “dancing millionaire” when he was seen (surprise, surprise) dancing on one of his yachts with a hot girlfriend, expensive booze, and probably other enhancing substances.
This dance scored him 12 MILLION followers on Instagram in under a year. All he did was posting hot pics from different parties, telling nothing but sweet little lies to his unsuspecting followers. Because, as it turns out now, none of that was real. Well, the pics were real, and he did score a hot girlfriend, but the yachts, the villas, the parties – all rentals! What a great yet unsettling way to live your life.
2) Supermodel Who Never Existed
Speaking of fake internet people, meet Shudu (@shudu.gram) — often called one of the most gorgeous Instagram models. To get the full but heavily abridged story, let’s rewind a bit.
One day Cameron James-Wilson saw a couple of drones flying through the podium, showing off Dolce & Gabbana handbags and at that moment he realized – this was the perfect time to make a 3D fashion model! After weeks of planning and 3D sculpting we got to see the first image of Shudu, thus kick-starting “her” career.
After only a few days Shudu started getting all sorts of positive comments, and even some DMs from random photographers asking to do a shoot. Boy, were they surprised to find out she was not real. Oh wait, that’s right, nobody could tell!
There’s no uncanny valley feeling when you look at her pics, so for months her secret identity was well hidden. Up until the post with Rihanna’s beauty brand Fenty (not sponsored), when the post went from the usual high score of 50k likes, to 220k! With all that fame, Cameron finally felt like it was time to milk that virtual cow, but had to reveal Shudu was just an art project, and will most likely stay as one. Unless the fashion industry needs a virtual queen, that is.
London’s Best Restaurant
Have you ever used TripAdvisor’s review feature? If you have, then you know you can say pretty much whatever you like. And as long as you have some “proofs”, people will buy your lie without asking too many questions.
Now, imagine reading that there’s this mysterious highly-exclusive restaurant in London called “The Shed at Dulwich” that has the best food in the whole city and the only way you can get in is by an appointment. Like I said: super-duper exclusive!
To cut the long story short, a few mates decided to create a fake restaurant after having a giggle and a half. They used masterfully-crafted fake reviews, and genius-level photos to make the Shed look legit. Even made a mockup of a menu and stuff, which, BTW, was all based on moods.
The Shed started out at the very bottom of TripAdvisor’s lost, but in mere months of dodging all clients by telling them it’s all booked months in advance, while still writing more fake reviews, their restaurant finally became the #1 in London.
That’s how a restaurant that does not exist became the best in the city. Now that’s funny!
