Has anybody heard the latest conspiracy theory? Well, apparently a random internet user was accidentally sent a voicemail which consisted of a computer voice saying random letters from the phonetic alphabet which then spelled out this mysterious message “Danger SOS it is dire for you to evacuate be cautious they are not human SOS danger SOS.” They posted this on Twitter and claim that it keeps getting taken down and that they keep getting sent coded messages. Other people claim that they’ve received messages too and are sharing stories of creepy messages that they’ve received via various electronic devices. It all becomes very convoluted and people think the Earth is going to be invaded by aliens or taken over by AI next month. It’s all a little unnerving. (Have a look here for more info.)
Not that I believe any of it for a moment. I mean, if you just have to apply a little bit of critical thinking to tear the whole thing apart. If the government are really taking down these posts, why are there so many of them? Especially as they’re all readily accessible by a special hashtag, which would make them even easier to find and remove. But reading about it is just so addictive. I enjoy reading through the tweets in the same way that I enjoy reading a horror novel. It’s frightening and very immersive, because it seems real.
It made me realise that the internet has provided a wonderful new platform for storytelling. I’ve never really gotten into anything like this before, but I’m enjoying these tweets as works of fiction. But if it were a book, or a film, or a game, it wouldn’t have the same effect. Being able to discover it yourself and the fact that there are tweets from so many people make it seem so much more thrilling. It makes me think (with excitement) about the future of storytelling.
