Every year has its internet trend. Sometimes a year has multiple trends. So far in 2016, we've had a few. Trump and Harambe memes come to mind the quickest when I'm asked to pick a couple out, but we're beginning to form a new trend.
Clowns.
Scary Clowns.
Now, I'm almost 100% positive that everyone has heard of these so-called "clowns." They're allegedly dressing up, standing in strange places, and just looking absolutely terrifying. There have been plenty of viral videos over the past few weeks of these clown sightings, many which involve a single person driving up to the spot on the side of the road where the clown is standing, screaming something incendiary at him, and speeding off when the clown begins to move. That is basically the gist of almost every clown "sighting" we've seen on the internet.
Guess what. These videos are all 100% fake.
There are no clowns! I don;t understand how people aren't understanding. Is it just like a joke no one wants to give up, or are people just this stupid? All of these videos are going viral. One of the things that every person from the age 16-22 loves doing is having something they create go viral. It's literally a match made in heaven. Do you know what these kids are doing? They're dressing up in a creepy ass clown costume, standing at the side of the road, and having their friends drive by and film the menacing reaction that they entice out of the clown. Its that easy for a senior in high school to have his twitter handle blasted across the internet.
Also, its October. Do you know how many attractions involving clowns/being scared occur in the next 25 days? Like a billion, give or take. I've already heard of companies taking advantage of this craze and creating a hoax clown sighting in order to get on the news, and promote their event. Honestly, that is genius marketing.
I just don't understand. Why are people afraid of some people dressed up in clown suits? I've thought long and hard, and the only reason I can think of is the anonymity, which I readily agree with. If you're meandering down the street and you happen to pass a creepy clown on the side of the road whom you have no idea who they are, then yes, that is unsettling. It could be anyone from an 18 year-old senior in high school to a child rapist. I get that, I really do. My issue comes from the mass hysteria that is created from people simply seeing videos online which are absolutely 100000% fake. If you aren't able to see through the simple hoaxes that are going on, you're ridiculous.
Bottom-line is, the internet "clown sightings" and "videos" are all fake. There is absolutely no merit to seeing a tweet about a clown sighting from someone who goes to your school (which holds about 6,000 students.) They are simply trying to go viral, and are succeeding. If you panic from seeing a few made-up tweets, followed by a few photoshopped pictures of clowns in your campus or in your town, I feel bad for you. Being scared is fun, but being scared for real, and for no reason? Well, that's just painful.
