Google Trending And Justin Bieber’s Syphilis Scare
On June 13, Justin Bieber was diagnosed with syphilis. By Google Trends.
After being photographed on a beach with model Kim Kardashian, the pop singer became vulnerable to a media storm as news broke that he had contracted the sexually transmitted disease.
Odd? Not so much. Celebrity slander is the bedrock of American entertainment, but the creation, generation and perpetuation of the rumor by the online masses is worth another look.
Gawker explores how the process was initiated by 4chan’s /b/ message board, building a movement to trend the topic:
“Around midnight, 4chan’s Google Trend bombers pushed “Justin Bieber Syphilis” to the top of Google Trends’ “Hot Searches” list. They did with this message, posted in 4chan’s infamous /b/ comment board:
Go to Google and search ‘Justin Bieber Syphilis’. Let’s get this to be No. 1 searched phrase on Google Trends. Use an autoclicker or macro if possible and get others involved. Unlike a death rumor, this will be hard for him to disprove.
Obviously, Justin Bieber doesn’t have syphilis. But if you trend it, they will come. When “Justin Bieber Syphilis” made it to #1, the blogosphere began to buzz. The logic went something like this: If it’s trending, people must be curious about it. Thus, a rumor exists. Thus, I should take the phrase “Justin Bieber Syphilis,” put a question mark at the end, and turn it into a blog post.“
The result was this:
- Justin Bieber Syphilis? [Celebrity Smack Blog]
- Does Justin Bieber Have Syphilis? [Allie Is Wired]
- Justin Bieber Syphilis Rumors [Hollywood Dame]
- How Did Justin Bieber Get Syphilis? [Guyism]
- Justin Bieber Has Syphilis [Buzz Tab]
- Justin Bieber Syphilis: Are the Rumors True? [Trending Daily]
As we all manifest and sustain Internet chatter through our RSS feeds, Google Trends can target the bits that can get bigger through such circulation. The experiment evidences the movement towards singular circulation or the idea of “breaking influentials” as one tastemaker put it.
Gawker goes on:
The outcome, in this case, is a reverse-engineered rumor in the manner of the “Did Glenn Beck Rape and Murder a Girl in 1990?” hoax: Whereas most rumors start by people saying X is true, reverse-engineered rumors start with the message People are saying X. As it repeats, people eventually ask, Is X true? which is a message in and of itself. That a precious few will inevitably conclude, X is true, is icing on the cake.
Engineering new culture, it seems, can be simplified to a few clicks a day.
Gawker: How Justin Bieber Caught A Contagious Syphilis Rumor
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