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If 2013 was the year of the viral hoax, what then should we call 2014 a year slightly older, slightly wiser, and even more full of moronic shenanigans?

This was the year, after all, that saw the rise of the fake news industry: a cynical (and profitable!) enterprise that churns out convincing hoax-news for clicks. This was also, arguably, the year that properly ushered in the worst of the bogus fact/photo Twitter accounts, a la @UberFacts or @HistoryInPics. And thats not even getting into the pranks, the viral attention-seeking, and the outright bald-faced lies made for infamy, lolz or some other purpose, we will never know.

So this year, at least, we shant make the mistake of declaring the viral hoax a 2014 fad. But as 2015 approaches, maybe we can look back and learn from the past yearsmistakes? In that spirit, heres our survey of 2014s most viral, and outrageous, Internet fakes.

1. There was no three-boob girl.

Way back in September, Alisha Hessler alias Jasmine Tridevil captivated the Internet and confounded plastic surgeons with the claim that shed gotten a third-breast implant in order to score a realityTVshow. (That is, admittedly, a pretty solid MTV pitch.) Alas, the third boob was actually a prosthesis, and as fake as Hesslers hokey pseudonym.

In the wake of her viral fame, Hessler is apparently pursuing a second career as a pop star; she recently finished recording her first song and an accompanying music video, which wasset to premiere on Tampas 102.5 The Bone on Thursday. No word on whether she wore the prosthesis in that performance,but it seems to be part of her shtick.

2. 4chan didnt leak Emma Watsons nudes.

Lets be clear: 4chan was responsible for a lot of other shenanigans this year. But when a threatening Web site went up in the wake of falls Fappening, promising to leak nude photos of actress Emma Watson in revenge for a feminist speech she made at the United Nations, the Internets most infamous message board was not actually to blame. Instead, both the Web site and the threat were publicity stunts bya Internet marketing company called Rantic, which remains in operation today.

Rantics business model is fairly sketchy it sells fake Web traffic, as well as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter likes but the companys reps have said that the motives behind the Emma Watson hoax were pure. It was a psychological study, mate, one man told Vocativ. And a bid for free publicity, which definitely worked.

3. That super-viraldrunk girlvideo was staged.

See the article here:
The 15 worst Internet hoaxes of 2014 and where the pranksters are now