Eon8

In the days leading up to July 1st, 2006 the Internet Subculture was in panic. Eon8 was coming and no one knew what it would bring.

What was Eon8? It was a website that bore a simple timer that was counting down to a certain date: July 1st. No one knew why. Rumors flew around the 'net: Cyber terrorism? Hoax? Neither.

At midnight the site's countdown hit zero and the internet exploded.

(NOT REALLY, LOL.)

Truth: Social experiment.

What happened was that the site displayed a message that said, among other things:

As of July 1st, 2006, the E8 Project has completed.
The purpose of this project was to determine the reactions of the internet public to lack of information.

[...]

We were amazed to discover that the site was instantly linked with terrorism, simply for the fact that it seems mysterious. Evil was the number one first impression people had of the site, in spite of the fact that there are no threats on the site.

(for the full text, click here)

I found those particular parts the most interesting. Why? Because I had done exactly that. Naturally I'm not a Hacker, or what have you, but I was a Script Kiddie for the week leading up to Zero. I wasn't trying to bring the site down or anything -- just trying to see if there was a hidden folder in their directory that held cool info.

That being said, I completely "fell for it. "

If a website can put people into such a frenzy, what could an incorrect news broadcast do?

Think on it.