Social media: Every day is April Fools' Day

Social media: Every day is April Fools' Day

Don't believe everything you read. Or at least, don't take it too seriously.

Last month, I wrote a column about Aaron Aziz being named Singapore's Most Popular Actor at the Social Star Awards.

The headline was: "Aaron Aziz has so many followers on Instagram, he may require an MDA licence."

Someone, presumably an Aaron Aziz fan, tweeted: "That was the last straw. MDA, YOU'VE COMPLETELY LOST IT."

Apparently, this person had barely tolerated the Media Development Authority's recently announced licensing scheme for Singapore news websites, but once the Government threatened to regulate his or her favourite actor's Instagram account, that was crossing the line.

Of course, Aaron doesn't really need to get an MDA licence despite having more than a quarter of a million Instagram followers. As with almost everything I do, the headline was a joke.

I thought the idea of MDA requiring the former Heartlanders star to get a licence for his Instagram was so ridiculous that no one could possibly believe that it was true.

Once again, I was wrong.

Fortunately, another person replied to the tweet, explaining: "NOT TRUE LAH. SM Ong writes parody articles."

But the fan remained unforgiving and tweeted back: "Okay, that's a relief, my bad. But still, the new licensing regimes for 'news' sites is stupid."

MDA just can't catch a break.

Still, I sympathise with the Aaron Aziz fan. With the overwhelming amount of information being shared on social media literally every second, it can be hard to tell what is true and what is a joke. Every day can be April Fools' Day.

For instance, I read on Facebook last week that, thanks to Singapore, the United Nations has designated Nov 19 as World Toilet Day.

At first, I dismissed it as a fake news story like those from The Onion, a satirical website based in the US. I wasn't letting myself get punked.

I mean, I get it. Since Singaporeans already have bottled recycled sewage water as drinking water, it would be just like us to propose a World Toilet Day to the UN.

And people accuse me of toilet humour.

But then I saw the story repeated on the websites MDA wants to regulate and I realised, wait a minute, this World Toilet Day thing is for real.

That realisation nearly made me choke on my NEWater. Cough.

Also on Facebook last week, I read this headline: "Din Tai Fung bracing its restaurants for toothpick thievery."

I assumed this had to be true since The Straits Times had reported that minister Lim Swee Say said he is so impressed by the toothpicks of the Din Tai Fung restaurant chain that he "pinches" half a box every visit.

As it turned out, the headline was from a satirical website called NewNation.sg, a sort of local version of The Onion.

That means the part about the minister pinching toothpicks is true, but the part about Din Tai Fung preparing for a run on its toothpicks was a joke. I think.

Sometimes a joke may not turn out the way you expect.

Last Sunday, 65-year-old former presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian posted on Facebook: "I downloaded a thermometer app. It showed outside temperature to be 32.6 C. I was not sure if it was accurate. I put the phone into the fridge for 5 mins and took it out. It (s)till showed 32.6 C. Is this app working correctly?"

He later realised his gaffe, but it had already gone viral. Some weren't sure if Mr Tan was joking, but others mocked him.

Blogger Lee Kin Mun, best known as Mr Brown, joked that "We could have had him for President" and added "Fail indeed".

A few commenters took umbrage at the jibe. One wrote: "Would you make fun of your parents if they don't know iPhone? Shame on you, Mr Brown."

It didn't stop there. Mr Brown posted on Facebook: "Wow, the Tan Kin Lian fan club has descended on my blog. Now invoking my autistic daughter, Faith, too. Nice."

Mr Brown was referring to this comment: "You once talked at length about the challenges of parenting Faith, about how it made you understand the world and its struggles a little better.

"As father to a child born with severe learning disability, this resonated with me tremendously and I was instantly won over. Today, these notions of noblesse oblige lie in shambles."

I had to look up what "noblesse oblige" means.

As for Mr Tan, he later explained his Facebook post: "I posted the item to see if other people also realised it. A few people knew the answer and posted the reply politely. Some other people took the chance to post insulting remarks. It shows their narrow-minded(ness) and rude character and their lack of a sense of humour."

Wait, so he was trolling us all along?

Et tu, Mr Tan?

Now I'm confused. So can you really tell the temperature with the iPhone or not?

Someone please let me know before World Toilet Day.


Get The New Paper for more stories.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.