Hoax stories are taking over social media, so beware, check your sources … and check yourself.
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The wonderful content providers at MTV have done it again. Or have they?
Known for its so-called reality TV shows, MTV targets an audience full of teens and young adult viewers.
Much like their hit show “16 and Pregnant,” MTV is producing a new reality TV show. Can you guess it?
That’s right, as you may have already assumed, this show is about 12-year-old girls dealing with the troubles of becoming a parent.
This. Is. Appalling.
Now before we get too far, I’ll cue you in. This is actually a hoax story from a hoax website, called Empire News.
The site is completely fake but very convincing. So convincing, in fact, that this is where many Facebook rumors originate.
This is just one example of how easy it is to believe things that are not true when presented in a format and medium that we have come to rely on.
I actually started this opinion column believing the MTV rumor was true until it’s fallacious was brought to my attention.
It seems that lately, hoax stories and websites have become somewhat of a trend.
Just last week there was a story bouncing around on my Facebook home page that Miley Cyrus died from a drug overdose.
As untrue as the story was, I still jumped to read the article about her false death.
In this day and age, we have to be extremely careful about what we believe when reading online sources.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the excitement of so-called “breaking news” stories that they spread like wild fires. And true or false, if the stories generate hits to someone’s website or blog, they generate revenue for their sources.
This is an important reminder of why we should double check our facts before hitting the “share” button on Facebook or ranting on our blogs.
I say, take everything you read online with a grain of salt. Do your research and understand whether what you are reading is true of false.
Alexa Tippett 
Jack Gienke 
Emma Tihen