Pics Or It Didn’t Happen? Fake Marathon Wants Your Photos To Make It Seem Real

The Kickstarter Project called Run Free 2013 is a fake marathon that Ridiculo.us is putting on to see if they can use user-submitted photos of an event that isn’t actually happening, to make it seem like it did. While certainly a fun idea, a bigger question begs to be asked– if all it takes are photos and tweets to make something seem like it actually happened, how in the future can we account for the difference between the real and a hoax? Embedded video inside.

Below is their Kickstarter video, which explains the details of their ruse, complete with registration packet information, bib numbers, race bracelets, and even medals for the “runners”. The fake race takes place on February 2, 2013.

Making people believe something that is not true goes hand in hand with a video Digital Rev TV posted recently, where they Kai attempts to re-create a images where instagramed and facebook-posted images make it seem like you have things that you do not, which came from this photographer’s blog.

So what do you think? This is a fun idea for sure, but am I the only one who thinks there is something a bit unsettling about this concept? It’s easier than ever before to spread rumors like wildfire with social media outlets and every that has a cameraphone connected to a network. A wise man once said, with great power comes great responsibility, I’d hate to think about what someone with an devious agenda might do. Who knows how many rumors and things that were just popular beliefs became fact over years of history being lost, and the writers of the history book publishing what they heard?