I think it's time for me to come clean about this. I kinda became addicted to Reddit, but most importantly, reddit stories. It became part of my routine to listen to podcasts that read reddit stories. NGL it's really enjoyable, but there is always some people that debates if the stories are true.
Then I tried it once. I created a throwaway account and posted a made up story. It gained a lot of traction and nobody even commented about it being fake.
It was supposed to be a one time thing, but then another idea for a story pops up in my head, I create another throwaway with a temp mail and write that another story.
Overtime it became a habit. I've posted tens of fake stories, maybe over a hundred. With updates even. I also learned to develop different styles of writing and formatting so people wouldn't notice they were written by the same person, me.
Some of my stories got into the podcasts I listen to daily. Its always exciting to hear my own stories being read by someone else.
But I realize that this is not healthy anymore. I could develop so many of these stories into short stories or novels. I've learned a lot and improved my writing, these are compelling, engaging, even gut-wrenching stories that I think people would like to read if they were books.
It's time for me to stop this and start writing fiction for real.
Another reason why I should quit it, it's because I fucking hate the mods, some of my best stories has been deleted for bullshit reasons, or I just can't find the right sub to post them. But I gotta say, engaging with people in real time is part of the fun of it.
I don't want you to think everything on reddit is fake, and I don't care if some posts are fake or not, I have so many fucked up real stories in my family that no reddit story ever even came close to be as fucked up as real life and would be tossed aside as fake instantly. Reality is weirder than fiction.
Thanks for reading my confession. I'll go out, touch grass, and start writing fiction.
BTW, I only post fake shit on Throwaway accounts, I've never done that on my real main account, and I never lie IRL. Maybe that's why it felt so exciting early on.
I'm glad you're coming clean. I kinda hope that you go back and delete the fake stories, or at least make clear they're works of fiction.
Why?
Because people are stupid. They hear an urban legend about a psycopath putting razor blades in apples and all of a sudden no one can have anything but individually wrapped candy during halloween. People overemphasize anectodes to establish political views or actually make policy changes. Academics troll reddit for evidence to support theories. And "news" "reporters" pull stuff from Reddit and report it, often as fact. If it implicates criminal activity or child abuse, that might cause authorities to get involved needlessly.
Maybe your stories aren't such that they would impact policies, or change political views, or impact lives. I'm sure some of it is just harmless fun (though, when I'd participate in forums like AITA with fake posts, it sure did annoyme), and to some extent, people should be smarter about responding to shitposts. "Throwaway because my friends know my main account" should be a big, red flag. And I'm glad you got to work on your writing skill and voice. I hope you can use it productively in the future, and I wish you the best of luck. (But think about deleting or editing your posts!)
One of my stories was about a concerned mom worried because her rebellious teenage daughter was hanging out with older kids, some of them legally adults. Then she discovered was involved in a polyamorous relationship with them. I think it's already deleted by mods but this is the only one what might make people try to investigate outside reddit, but it didn't really happen. (this was inspired by people i've known IRL, just not the polyamory part that was entirely made up).
Another story got me talking with a redditor offering me help getting in contact with the media about a long missing person. I politely declined the offer claiming that the missing person family was already on it. This one is old and I lost the password to that account.
Except for those 2 my stories are harmless fun most of the time, and others might be really dramatic. Maybe enough to upset the reader for some short time.
I think there's something deeper about why people believe. It's not that they can't tell fact from fiction, at least not entirely. Quite often, the stories they believe are the ones that reinforce their existing worldview. This is especially true in the realm of politics, but applies to more mundane situations as well.
The people that believe the razer blade in apples story are usually the ones afraid of strangers. But sometimes their memory confuses events and stories, or details get lost. Other times, it's bad journalism, or public figures trying to make a name for themselves. Bad information, whether malicious or benign, is hard to remove, both from a person and from society in general.
The NY Times, October 28 1970, published the razer blades story. It was full of confidence and input from respectable and trustworthy authorities. It wasn't until many years later that anyone investigated it, and found it to be total bullshit.
Idk, I understand what you mean but seriously if you're a police officer/journalist/academic, you should NOT be taking seriously what someone wrote totally anonymously with 0 evidence beyond the text to back it up. When the Daily Fail organizes their fascist reader base on a crusade based on an anonymous Reddit post (idk if it's ever happened, probably), that's not the posters fault.
I don't disagree, but that doesn't mean that people don't do it.
There are tons of "journalists" on sites like Yahoo that simply troll Reddit's popular subs for content and repost controversial statements/opinions for clicks. That's an easy way that hoaxes spread.
Of course, the police aren't going to go arrest someone based on an anonymous post, but it might raise suspicion and/or cause an unwarranted investigation.
And yes, I do believe that if someone publishes something online, they have some level of responsibility for what they post, subject to the protections of the First Amendment (and similar doctrines in other countries). "I get to say what I want and don't have any responsibility for the consequences" leads to (a) potentially dangerous situations, and (b) really shitty content.