We need your help saving an endangered species from total extinction. The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus is an endangered species native to the Northwestern United States. These amphibious octopi are quite beautiful, and are highly intelligent for cephalopods. It's habitat in the temperate rain forests of the Olympic Peninsula has come under attack by logging companies, causing many to die off due to deforestation. The building of roads through the Olympic Peninsula have also cut many of the tree octopi off from their breeding grounds, causing a steady decline in their birth rates. They have also been traded as both food and items for fashion once dried out. So what can you do to help this wonderful creature from going extinct?

Absolutely nothing; they're not real! What? How can that be? There is a website and everything dedicated to saving the tree octopus, and it sounds pretty convincing. The truth is, it was an Internet hoax created in 1998 by Lyle Zapato, and has been spread with many people believing that the tree octopus actually exists. This popular hoax has also been used in the classroom to help teach Internet literacy.

So, why would I try and convince you to help this fictitious animal? To prove that we should not believe everything we read on the Internet. Every day, we are flooded with news, websites and other things on social media, and generally on the Internet. While many of the things we read are factual, many are works of pure fiction. The publication and spreading of fiction on the Internet is all well and good and, as "intelligent" human beings, we should be able to tell the difference. However, a problem occurs when people take these fictional stories and starts to believe them.

A prime example of people believing everything they read on the internet occurred in 2014, when two 12-year-old girls stabbed a fellow classmate in order to impress the Creepypasta character Slenderman. The two girls had found the story of Slenderman on one of several Creepypasta sites, and quickly believed the fanfics that they were reading. Their immediate thoughts on how to appease the supernatural entity turned into attempted murder. Luckily the victim survived.

Other cases of people believing what they read on the Internet might not be as drastic as the "Slenderman Stabbing." Popular satirical news site The Onion has been famous for producing entertaining articles such as "Gay Teen Worried He Might Be Christian," "Drugs Win Drug War," and "Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Are Over.'" While those with common sense can pick up on the fact that: A) It's a Joke. B) The articles are really outlandish. And finally C) It's The Onion, a known satirical website. This has never stopped some people from posting these articles in an outrage, swearing that it's on the Internet so it must be true.

So what you are probably wondering about is the solution I will offer for the pandemic of ignorance that is sweeping the Internet. I have two very plausible solutions. The first one of these solutions is do some research. Before you take something off the Internet and claim it as a fact, Google it, open a book, do something to verify that what you're claiming is actually true. Now it is not horrible to fall for hoaxes and lies posted on the Internet sometimes, but if someone can provide actual evidence to the contrary, don't keep fighting, it'll only make you look like an idiot. Now, the second solution might be a little hard for some people to comprehend, but here it goes: Use common sense. If it doesn't sound possible whatsoever, then why do you believe it? If we all just used some common sense when reading things on the Internet, maybe the entire population would sound like they actually had a brain.

Well, that's all for my rant on why we shouldn't believe everything we see on the internet. I'm gonna go hunt for some aliens or a Chupacabra. Have a good week everyone!