In 2013 stories emerged of gangs stealing plasma TV screens to use to make street drugs. It’s a myth, but it tells us something about South Africa’s social anxieties.
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Articles on Urban legends
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Urban legends are shaped by the people who tell them and where they’re from. That’s why you’ll hear so many versions of the same story.
The QAnon conspiracy movement is the latest in a long line of moral panics that emerge as a response to change. False theories are used to undermine claims to social justice raised by marginalized groups.
What was once the stuff of urban legends now spreads virally through social media claims the tunnels beneath our cities are used for child trafficking. The truth is both more mundane and important.
These legends allow us to address our fears about the urban environment.
Six tips on how to check out that latest online threat that’s targeting your children. How you can easily tell if it’s real or just another hoax?
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We're pouring cold water on old ideas in this episode: from why the population of Easter Island really declined and what makes a good urban legend.
From photoshopped images, to fake eye-witness accounts, to a real-life attempted murder, the Slenderman is the internet’s urban myth.
Urban legends get around, but we don’t really understand why. We conducted a study to explain how misinformation spreads surprisingly fast and why people feel compelled to share it. There are many urban…
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Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Winchester
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Reader in Cultural History, University of Portsmouth
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Professor in Archaeology, University of Central Lancashire
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Associate Lecturer in Communications, Western Sydney University
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Honourary Senior Research Associate, University of Bristol
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Research Assistant, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, The University of Melbourne
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Visiting Research Fellow, Manchester Metropolitan University
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Associate professor, University of the Witwatersrand
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Researcher: Digital Literacy and Digital Wellbeing, Western Sydney University
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Professor of Modern European History, Carleton University
