Why is it wrong? It's just people on the internet... - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Cynthetiq · 06-14-2009, 12:26 PM

Quote:

View: 'Pregnant' blogger's hoax angers readers
Source: Latimes
posted with the TFP thread generator

'Pregnant' blogger's hoax angers readers

From the Los Angeles Times
'Pregnant' blogger's hoax angers readers
An Illinois woman's online story about giving birth to a child diagnosed in the womb as terminally ill turns out to be untrue. Many of her antiabortion readers say they feel emotionally exploited.
By Kim Janssen

June 14, 2009

Reporting from Chicago — The woman's story about giving birth to a child diagnosed while in the womb as terminally ill hit a nerve.

Every night for the last two months, thousands of abortion foes from across the nation logged onto a blog run by the woman who said she was unmarried, pregnant and identified herself only as "B" or "April's Mom." People said they prayed that God would save her pregnancy. They e-mailed her photos of their children, shared tales of heartache and redemption and sent letters of support and gifts to an Oak Lawn, Ill., post office box.

As more people were drawn to the blog -- which included biblical quotes, antiabortion messages and a soundtrack of inspirational Christian pop songs -- advertisers were queuing up. By the evening of June 7, when the woman blogged that April Rose had survived a home birth only to die hours later, her website had nearly 1 million hits.

There was only one problem with the unfolding tragedy: None of it was true.

The baby in the photos, swaddled in white blankets, was a doll.

"I have that exact doll in my house," said Elizabeth Russell, a doll maker from Buffalo, N.Y., who had been following the blog. "As soon as I saw that picture, I knew it was a scam."

The following day, people vented their anger on dozens of Christian parenting websites.

"She needs to be exposed and held accountable," Russell said.

Sensing that people were close to establishing her identity, "April's Mom" raced to delete her website and Twitter and Facebook accounts. But the online community already had identified her: Beccah Beushausen, a 26-year-old social worker from Mokena, Ill.

Reached by the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday, Beushausen admitted to the hoax.

"I know what I did was wrong," she said. "I've been getting hate mail. I'm sorry because people were so emotionally involved." There's no evidence that Beushausen benefited financially in any significant way or committed any crime.

Still, Russell said, she does not understand why anyone would create such a tale and prey on people's emotions.

Beushausen said she really did lose a son shortly after birth in 2005.

She started her blog in March to help deal with that loss and to express her antiabortion views, she said.

She had ony expected only a handful of friends to read it, but when her first post got 50 comments, she was hooked.

"I've always liked writing. It was addictive to find out I had a voice that people wanted to hear," she said.

"Soon I was getting 100,000 hits a week, and it just got out of hand. I didn't know how to stop. . . . One lie led to another."

Although Beushausen said she used her real-life experiences as a basis for her fictionalized account, her devoted fans didn't read it that way.

"I feel emotionally exploited," said Jennifer McKinney, a Minnesota mother who runs the widely read Christian parenting blog mycharmingkids.net and nearly lost her fourth child during pregnancy. She said Beushausen sought her out to help promote her site and, in retrospect, had seemed more interested in attracting viewers than in her unborn child.

"I have 11,000 Twitter followers, and I drove most of the traffic to her blog," McKinney said. "My readers were praying for her, and I feel guilty about that. But I have to admit her stuff was beautifully written."

Raechel Myers, a friend of Beushausen's from college, heard from someone this year that Beushausen was going through a difficult pregnancy. Myers and her husband had a daughter who died at birth, so they did more than most to support Beushausen.

"When I heard that she was pregnant, I called her and said if she needed anything, I was there for her," said Myers, who lives in Nashville.

Myers sold T-shirts online to benefit both her friend and an antiabortion pregnancy clinic that Beushausen sought support for.

The couple said they sent her a few hundred dollars. Even after learning of the hoax, Myers said, she and her husband did not regret their involvement.

"She's someone who needed love and attention, and we gave her that," Myers said.

Beushausen said she planned to write one final blog post, coming clean and apologizing to her fans.

Anyone who believes that it doesn't matter what you say on a message board doesn't really understand what community means. They don't see themselves as part or responsible to being in a community. While it seems like it is easier to be able to disconnect from a group of human beings, I submit that it is further from the truth.

If you lie in a community you lie in a community. It harms a community and it harms the individuals of that community. It may not be apparent, but are lies really even apparent in the harm that they commit to the individual or the community? I don't think that there is any way to track quantitative or qualitative methods of figuring that out.

What is apparent is that anyone with a conscience does also get harmed as can be seen here in this article. This isn't the first time that someone lied on the internet, it won't be the last.

Reese · 06-14-2009, 12:59 PM

I must be a fucked up person then, because I don't have a problem with her doing this at all. It's her twitter feed, it's her blog. She can write whatever the fuck she wants. This kind of reminds me of the book "Choke."

Willravel · 06-14-2009, 01:11 PM

I was really broken up when I found out that Fake Steve Jobs was fake.

Xerxys · 06-14-2009, 01:18 PM

"I feel emotionally exploited"

Such fuckin' bullshit. This right here is why we have wars, famine and hunger. People take their damn lives way too fucking seriously. This makes me angry. Not because the OP lied, but because of the reaction.

Look at them so outraged and shocked!! Motherfuckers. There is a reason why we internalize our thoughts and feelings. If you go through an ordeal, let your friends and family know. Not the whole world. So if you learn someone else has gone through the same thing, sympathize and leave it at that!! This also brings me to something else, what kind of moron has such a high sense of self worth to believe that he should be offended by anything that he doesn't stand for??

The world needs to come to terms with: you're not fucking special, now get back to work

DISCLAIMER: I'm a regular human being and I do make mistakes but I sign up on ANONYMOUS online forums in order to be brutally honest about myself. I don't lie but My blog, my right to write whatever I want!!

Punk.of.Ages · 06-14-2009, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cybermike

This kind of reminds me of the book "Choke."

I was actually thinking that myself.

I agree that it's her right to write whatever she wants in her blog, but that also means she needs to take responsibility for what she wrote.

dd3953 · 06-14-2009, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cybermike

I must be a fucked up person then, because I don't have a problem with her doing this at all. It's her twitter feed, it's her blog. She can write whatever the fuck she wants. This kind of reminds me of the book "Choke."

While I have not read "Choke," I completely agree with you. And I must admit I'm a little confused (and frightened) by how attached the rest of the world got with her story/blog.

Xerxys · 06-14-2009, 01:31 PM

Punk.of.Ages, responsibility how? Just how exactly is she responsible for ... what is it we are holding her responsible for?

Punk.of.Ages · 06-14-2009, 01:40 PM

She told a lie to a lot of people and allowed them to care about her. People went out of their way to help her under false pretenses.

She's at least responsible for an apology...

wooÐs · 06-14-2009, 01:59 PM

People who become so passionate about some forum or another's blog or what not need to step away from the computer for a while. Their obsession only fuels the troll / blogger, etc. to keep it up. Maybe even step it up a few notches. It's great to have interests and what not on the internet, but when it involves others' personal lives, always use caution. Always. I tend to keep my contact with people online for entertainment purposes only. Rarely anything more.

n0nsensical · 06-14-2009, 02:11 PM

Welcome to the Internet. Do enjoy your stay!

Halanna · 06-14-2009, 02:13 PM

I don't think it's wrong.

If you have a successful blog that people are following, does it matter if it's true? I think most personal blogs contain an element of exaggeration or expansion of the truth to make it more interesting. I mean really, how many people write a personal blog that you aren't related to that is interesting? Most real lives aren't worth blogging. I mean my sister in law writes a blog about her 3 year old daughter. I have to confess, I don't really care what the daughter said while tinkling after removing her Dora the Explorer panties. Ugh.

Maybe if all the followers weren't anti-abortion zealots they would not have gotten hung up in the story.

But it is a story in the end. If you follow a personal blog, you have to take what you read with a grain of salt.

It may not have been a nice thing to do, but I don't think it's necessarily "wrong".

little_tippler · 06-14-2009, 03:13 PM

It's her blog to write what she wants. It's not nice that she deceived people and accepted their gifts. I understand that she was trying to cope with something and needed someone to care.

inBOIL · 06-14-2009, 03:16 PM

Quote:

The couple said they sent her a few hundred dollars.

If she accepted this money, she should be punished for doing so. But as far as hurt feelings go, you're responsible for your own and nobody else's.

Quote:

I feel emotionally exploited

My eyes cannot roll with sufficient vigor to express my disdain for this comment.

ring · 06-14-2009, 03:56 PM

Reminds me of good ol' Fibber Mcgee.

YouTube - Bigg's Tinker McGee (Fibber McGee and Molly)

Whatever motives drove this woman towards fabrication,
might have been quite apparent to those who know her well,
and were quickly seen through, perhaps.

Thinly veiled references...quite the scarf dance.

Reese · 06-14-2009, 03:57 PM

They sent her money after she'd already been outed as a hoax. Those people, while they may have been deceived previously knew exactly who they were sending money to.

n0nsensical · 06-14-2009, 06:44 PM

If she deliberately misrepresented herself for the purpose of having people send her money, I'd think it could constitute fraud. If she just wrote up this sob story on a blog and people sent her money, then she's not necessarily responsible.

wooÐs · 06-14-2009, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by n0nsensical

If she deliberately misrepresented herself for the purpose of having people send her money, I'd think it could constitute fraud.

I'm not so sure about that.

Ever heard of SaveToby.com? Dude basically said buy my overpriced merchandise - donate money to me. If I don't get $50,000 (or something,) I'm going to eat the bunny. I personally thought it was brilliant so I bought a mug and a hoodie lol. But he essentially made his cash. And Toby was 'saved.'

SabrinaFair · 06-14-2009, 07:40 PM

What, you mean people on the Internet aren't always who they say they are? I am SHOCKED!

But in all seriousness....other than the whole money/gift thing, who the hell cares? Why do people make themselves so vulnerable that they can feel emotionally exploited by something like this?

ItWasMe · 06-15-2009, 12:36 AM

I think what she did was wrong.

She deliberately lied to/deceived/mislead people. I think that is wrong, whether or not many of her readers care too much, were obsessed, are gullible, or seriously needed to get a life.

According to Mc Kinney's blog my charming kids: an update on April Rose (the woman who was approached by Beushausen to promote the misleading blog) people sent Beushausen money and gifts. If this is true, I hope someone at least tries to go after her legally for accepting these under false pretenses. I'm not sure how she would have received them without giving the person some kind of an address. That doesn't sound like an innocent recipient to me.

Maybe you can write whatever you want to in your blog, but in cases like this I think they deserve negative repercussions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halanna

... my sister in law writes a blog about her 3 year old daughter. I have to confess, I don't really care what the daughter said while tinkling after removing her Dora the Explorer panties. Ugh.

I would love to hear what she said.

Wrexify · 06-15-2009, 05:59 AM

I don't understand the readers' reactions after they find out the stories weren't true. This woman created a community where people could come together and share stories of hardship while offering support for one another... that sounds pretty good to me. But now that they learned that the OP's stories weren't true, it's meaningless?

Didn't this same thing happen with Oprah's book club? Some guy wrote a "true" story that everyone loved and praised, but when they found out that it wasn't entirely based in reality they shunned him for "emotional exploitation". What?! Isn't the story still a good story? You just said so yourself. Apparently stories must be 100% true for us to enjoy them or learn anything from them.

Bill O'Rights · 06-15-2009, 07:26 AM

Big deal. There are much more pressing matters in this world, than someone *GASP* lying on the damn internet. The only problem that I would have with it would be if it were done with the intent of financial gain. If she did it with the intent to deceive people out of money...then I have a problem with it. Otherwise...not so much.

new man · 06-15-2009, 07:28 AM

Wow, imagine how angry religious people are going to be when they find out they have been lied to for thousands of years, and sent in money during that time. I mean, talk about the greatest story ever sold. Imagine if mohammed or a pope had had twitter. Someone with a real gift for selling and storytelling.

biznatch · 06-15-2009, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by new man

Wow, imagine how angry religious people are going to be when they find out they have been lied to for thousands of years, and sent in money during that time. I mean, talk about the greatest story ever sold. Imagine if mohammed or a pope had had twitter. Someone with a real gift for selling and storytelling.

Well the Vatican does have a youtube channel. Whether the pope's views will be in the same league as Lonelygirl15's is still unsure.
I've toyed with the idea of making a fake blog. I'm not into blogging, but creating a character that way could be cool.
By the way, there's nothing wrong with it. Nowhere in a blog service's Terms Of Use does it say that your posts have to be truthful. If you're gonna believe everything a blog says and take it to heart, you might as well sign up for every penis enlargement method and send half your salary to Nigeria.

LoganSnake · 06-15-2009, 02:59 PM

She didn't do anything wrong. I mean, I think she should send the things and money back, but why feel guilty for people who believed a story on the internet? She was writing and it wasn't her fault so many people got attracted to her story.

With the internet being as accessible and feature filled as it is now, it is understandable how some people do not differentiate the internet from the real life, but being "emotionally exploited" is nobody's fault but the persons' who feels that way.

I've been lied to on the internet. hell, I had an ongoing "internet friendship" with a person whose entire life story was a lie. Sure it was weird after he admitted it, but it didn't bring my world down. It's internet. All I see are screen names.

Plan9 · 06-15-2009, 03:46 PM

Pfft, my whole TFP existence is a lie and I don't see anybody here heartbroken about it.

...

These people need to pull their collective heads outta their brainwashed-by-soap-opera asses.

Whatever they did is their own fault. This person is a douchebag but far from a criminal.

What's next? Fining Maddox for having a tacky website where he insults people?

uncle phil · 06-15-2009, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crompsin

Pfft, my whole TFP existence is a lie and I don't see anybody here heartbroken about it.

...

These people need to pull their collective heads outta their brainwashed-by-soap-opera asses.

Whatever they did is their own fault. This person is a douchebag but far from a criminal.

What's next? Fining Maddox for having a tacky website where he insults people?

i love ya, buddy...

06-14-2009, 12:59 PM	#2 (permalink)
Reese Delicious	I must be a fucked up person then, because I don't have a problem with her doing this at all. It's her twitter feed, it's her blog. She can write whatever the fuck she wants. This kind of reminds me of the book "Choke." __________________ “It is better to be rich and healthy than poor and sick” - Dave Barry

06-14-2009, 01:40 PM	#8 (permalink)
Punk.of.Ages Forming Location: ....a state of pure inebriation.	She told a lie to a lot of people and allowed them to care about her. People went out of their way to help her under false pretenses. She's at least responsible for an apology... __________________ "The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion..." - Henry Steel Commager "Punk rock music is great music played by really bad, drunk musicians." -Fat Mike

06-14-2009, 02:11 PM	#10 (permalink)
n0nsensical Junkie Location: San Francisco	Welcome to the Internet. Do enjoy your stay! __________________ "Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded." --Abraham Lincoln

06-14-2009, 03:13 PM	#12 (permalink)
little_tippler Leaning against the -Sun- Super Moderator Location: on the other side	It's her blog to write what she wants. It's not nice that she deceived people and accepted their gifts. I understand that she was trying to cope with something and needed someone to care. __________________ Whether we write or speak or do but look We are ever unapparent. What we are Cannot be transfused into word or book. Our soul from us is infinitely far. However much we give our thoughts the will To be our soul and gesture it abroad, Our hearts are incommunicable still. In what we show ourselves we are ignored. The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged By any skill of thought or trick of seeming. Unto our very selves we are abridged When we would utter to our thought our being. We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams, And each to each other dreams of others' dreams. Fernando Pessoa, 1918

06-14-2009, 03:57 PM	#15 (permalink)
Reese Delicious	They sent her money after she'd already been outed as a hoax. Those people, while they may have been deceived previously knew exactly who they were sending money to. __________________ “It is better to be rich and healthy than poor and sick” - Dave Barry

06-14-2009, 01:11 PM	#3 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	I was really broken up when I found out that Fake Steve Jobs was fake.

06-14-2009, 01:18 PM	#4 (permalink)
Xerxys Junkie Location: My head.	"I feel emotionally exploited" Such fuckin' bullshit. This right here is why we have wars, famine and hunger. People take their damn lives way too fucking seriously. This makes me angry. Not because the OP lied, but because of the reaction. Look at them so outraged and shocked!! Motherfuckers. There is a reason why we internalize our thoughts and feelings. If you go through an ordeal, let your friends and family know. Not the whole world. So if you learn someone else has gone through the same thing, sympathize and leave it at that!! This also brings me to something else, what kind of moron has such a high sense of self worth to believe that he should be offended by anything that he doesn't stand for?? The world needs to come to terms with: you're not fucking special, now get back to work DISCLAIMER: I'm a regular human being and I do make mistakes but I sign up on ANONYMOUS online forums in order to be brutally honest about myself. I don't lie but My blog, my right to write whatever I want!!

06-14-2009, 01:31 PM	#7 (permalink)
Xerxys Junkie Location: My head.	Punk.of.Ages, responsibility how? Just how exactly is she responsible for ... what is it we are holding her responsible for?

06-14-2009, 01:59 PM	#9 (permalink)
wooÐs Sitting in a tree Location: Atlanta	People who become so passionate about some forum or another's blog or what not need to step away from the computer for a while. Their obsession only fuels the troll / blogger, etc. to keep it up. Maybe even step it up a few notches. It's great to have interests and what not on the internet, but when it involves others' personal lives, always use caution. Always. I tend to keep my contact with people online for entertainment purposes only. Rarely anything more.

06-14-2009, 02:13 PM	#11 (permalink)
Halanna Insane Location: Over the rainbow . .	I don't think it's wrong. If you have a successful blog that people are following, does it matter if it's true? I think most personal blogs contain an element of exaggeration or expansion of the truth to make it more interesting. I mean really, how many people write a personal blog that you aren't related to that is interesting? Most real lives aren't worth blogging. I mean my sister in law writes a blog about her 3 year old daughter. I have to confess, I don't really care what the daughter said while tinkling after removing her Dora the Explorer panties. Ugh. Maybe if all the followers weren't anti-abortion zealots they would not have gotten hung up in the story. But it is a story in the end. If you follow a personal blog, you have to take what you read with a grain of salt. It may not have been a nice thing to do, but I don't think it's necessarily "wrong".

06-14-2009, 06:44 PM	#16 (permalink)
n0nsensical Junkie Location: San Francisco	If she deliberately misrepresented herself for the purpose of having people send her money, I'd think it could constitute fraud. If she just wrote up this sob story on a blog and people sent her money, then she's not necessarily responsible. __________________ "Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded." --Abraham Lincoln

06-14-2009, 07:40 PM	#18 (permalink)
SabrinaFair Junkie Location: Louisville, KY	What, you mean people on the Internet aren't always who they say they are? I am SHOCKED! But in all seriousness....other than the whole money/gift thing, who the hell cares? Why do people make themselves so vulnerable that they can feel emotionally exploited by something like this? __________________ "With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy." -Desiderata

06-15-2009, 05:59 AM	#20 (permalink)
Wrexify Crazy Location: Kramerica	I don't understand the readers' reactions after they find out the stories weren't true. This woman created a community where people could come together and share stories of hardship while offering support for one another... that sounds pretty good to me. But now that they learned that the OP's stories weren't true, it's meaningless? Didn't this same thing happen with Oprah's book club? Some guy wrote a "true" story that everyone loved and praised, but when they found out that it wasn't entirely based in reality they shunned him for "emotional exploitation". What?! Isn't the story still a good story? You just said so yourself. Apparently stories must be 100% true for us to enjoy them or learn anything from them. __________________ "Nitwit! Oddment! Blubber! Tweak!"

06-15-2009, 07:26 AM	#21 (permalink)
Bill O'Rights will always be an Alyson Hanniganite Location: In the dust of the archives	Big deal. There are much more pressing matters in this world, than someone GASP lying on the damn internet. The only problem that I would have with it would be if it were done with the intent of financial gain. If she did it with the intent to deceive people out of money...then I have a problem with it. Otherwise...not so much. __________________ "I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B. Anthony "Hedonism with rules isn't hedonism at all, it's the Republican party." - JumpinJesus It is indisputable that true beauty lies within...but a nice rack sure doesn't hurt.

06-15-2009, 07:28 AM	#22 (permalink)
new man Banned	Wow, imagine how angry religious people are going to be when they find out they have been lied to for thousands of years, and sent in money during that time. I mean, talk about the greatest story ever sold. Imagine if mohammed or a pope had had twitter. Someone with a real gift for selling and storytelling.

06-15-2009, 02:59 PM	#24 (permalink)
LoganSnake We work alone Location: Cake Town	She didn't do anything wrong. I mean, I think she should send the things and money back, but why feel guilty for people who believed a story on the internet? She was writing and it wasn't her fault so many people got attracted to her story. With the internet being as accessible and feature filled as it is now, it is understandable how some people do not differentiate the internet from the real life, but being "emotionally exploited" is nobody's fault but the persons' who feels that way. I've been lied to on the internet. hell, I had an ongoing "internet friendship" with a person whose entire life story was a lie. Sure it was weird after he admitted it, but it didn't bring my world down. It's internet. All I see are screen names. __________________ Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past. Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future. Common sense is knowing that you should try not to be an idiot now. - J. Jacques

06-15-2009, 03:46 PM	#25 (permalink)
Plan9 I Confess a Shiver	Pfft, my whole TFP existence is a lie and I don't see anybody here heartbroken about it. ... These people need to pull their collective heads outta their brainwashed-by-soap-opera asses. Whatever they did is their own fault. This person is a douchebag but far from a criminal. What's next? Fining Maddox for having a tacky website where he insults people? __________________ *Whatever you can carry.* "You should not drink... and bake." Last edited by Plan9; 06-15-2009 at 03:48 PM..