No, You Can’t End Racism By Tweeting About The Trayvon Martin Foundation
At 7:24 last night, a Twitter account called @WeLoveTrayvon sent its third tweet:
Unfortunately, it’s a hoax. There’s no such thing as a “Trayvon Martin Foundation.” Google shows no hits on the phrase other than ones relating to the tweet. And the @WeLoveTrayvon account, which originated the claim, includes no contact info, no website link, no nothing. The account was created less than 24 hours ago, and has only tweeted eight times — each time including a RT request.
It’s made up. It’s meaningless. There’s no foundation, and no pledge to match RTs with cash.
Some newer versions of the tweet claim that Will Ferrell is putting up the money, apparently on the basis of a RT from the @RealFerrellWill twitter account. But that account is unverified, it only has 25K followers, and its most recent tweet as I write this is a racist joke. It’s not really Will Ferrell.
Embarrassingly, the Toronto Sun and other newspapers were taken in by the hoax, which was repeated as fact in an article distributed by the British entertainment website WENN. But it’s a hoax nonetheless. You’re not providing anyone with any money by RTing.
Sorry.
“R.I.P. Trayvon Martin. For every RE-TWEET this tweet gets, $1 will be donated to the TrayvonMartinFoundation, which helps counteract racism.”
In the eighteen hours since, that tweet has been retweeted tens of thousands of times.Unfortunately, it’s a hoax. There’s no such thing as a “Trayvon Martin Foundation.” Google shows no hits on the phrase other than ones relating to the tweet. And the @WeLoveTrayvon account, which originated the claim, includes no contact info, no website link, no nothing. The account was created less than 24 hours ago, and has only tweeted eight times — each time including a RT request.
It’s made up. It’s meaningless. There’s no foundation, and no pledge to match RTs with cash.
Some newer versions of the tweet claim that Will Ferrell is putting up the money, apparently on the basis of a RT from the @RealFerrellWill twitter account. But that account is unverified, it only has 25K followers, and its most recent tweet as I write this is a racist joke. It’s not really Will Ferrell.
Embarrassingly, the Toronto Sun and other newspapers were taken in by the hoax, which was repeated as fact in an article distributed by the British entertainment website WENN. But it’s a hoax nonetheless. You’re not providing anyone with any money by RTing.
Sorry.