Talk:List of hoaxes

Incorrect Nomenclature

Many of the examples given do not fit the accepted definition of a hoax. That is, a lie perpetrated simply to demonstrate the gullibility of the victim, with no intention to benefit financially, and with the joke being revealed voluntarily by the perpetrator after a relatively short time. Many of the cases mentioned were outright frauds, or were lies which the perpetrators never admitted to be lies. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.142.146.107 (talk) 22:53, 20 October 2016 (UTC)

Ysolo (Albanian eggplant festival)

Since 2012, our article on List of harvest festivals has included a mention of Ysolo, purportedly a “festival marking the first day of harvest of eggplants in Tirana, Albania”. I believe this is a hoax. I will shortly delete it from that article, but it might be deserving of mention here, because it seems that its appearance on that page has led to a mountain on Ceres being officially named Ysolo Mons after the spurious festival. (See [1][2][3].) The hoax would seem to have been remarkably successful. —Mark Dominus (talk) 18:15, 24 November 2016 (UTC)

A higher level of evidence is needed to add a new fact to Wikipedia than to remove a dubious fact. Your search for evidence of the Ysolo festival probably justifies its removal from List of harvest festivals, but it does not justify its inclusion here as a hoax. We would need to cite a source to confirm that it is a hoax. Your USGS source [4] cites this blog. This would not be a good source for Wikipedia. Verbcatcher (talk) 18:56, 24 November 2016 (UTC)

Of course, and I am not planning to introduce it here without a reliable source. I am only bringing it to your attention as an item of possible interest. —Mark Dominus (talk) 21:13, 24 November 2016 (UTC)

Yes, it is interesting. It is a possible candidate for Wikipedia:List of citogenesis incidents. You could follow it up with whoever was responsible for naming the mountain (possibly NASA or USGS). Verbcatcher (talk) 00:34, 25 November 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, I have mentioned it at Wikipedia_talk:List_of_citogenesis_incidents#Ysolo_Mons. —Mark Dominus (talk) 02:34, 25 November 2016 (UTC)

Update: I just received email from USGS that they agree with my assessment and that they are changing the name of the mountain to Yamor Mons. —Mark Dominus (talk) 17:37, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

Ah, good. Dinero y amor is better than dinero y solo. Still, an eggplant is better than nothing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Skylax30 (talk • contribs) 12:35, 26 May 2017 (UTC)

Johann Hari added

Corrected the remarkable state of affairs which resulted in the most significant case in modern times of journalistic fraud, fabrication and plagiarism (alongside Jayson Blair) was missing. 82.10.117.175 (talk) 10:36, 27 June 2017 (UTC)

I've removed it as it's unsourced and qualifies under WP:BLP - although feel free to re-add once you've collected some sources to support the addition. Chaheel Riens (talk) 10:47, 27 June 2017 (UTC)

I've re-added it. It is sourced at the article, like every other entry on this list. The case of Jayson Blair is similar, again, sourced at the article, not here. cagliost (talk) 08:12, 25 July 2017 (UTC)

The source states that "he plagiarised and embellished quotes" and does not mention the term "hoax". I think "hoax" has a certain context to it and not all lies, fabrications, or deceptive statements are considered hoaxes. -Location (talk) 02:53, 19 August 2017 (UTC)

Definitions

I think we have to be more discerning here when defining a hoax. There's a fine line between hoax and outright fraud, and I think when placing an entry into this list, one has to be careful to distinguish between the two. The key, I think, harkens to the definitions below from Mirriam Webster, which includes the word "preposterous", and Cambridge and Collins, which includes "practical joke" and "trick". If a hoax is to be differentiated at all from a mere agenda-advancing fraud or career-advancing (among other) lies, I think that vein of understanding must be considered when deciding just what exactly a hoax is – and whether it should be included in this list.

Definition of hoax:

[Mirriam Webster]: transitive verb

to trick into believing or accepting as genuine something false and often preposterous

[Cambridge Dictionary]: noun

a plan to deceive a large group of people; a trick:

{Collins}: noun

a trick, esp. one meant as a practical joke

Thoughts? GenQuest ^{"Talk to Me"} 11:31, 19 August 2017 (UTC)

I agree. The Wikipedia way to approach this should be to follow what reliable secondary sources have labeled as "hoax", however, the definition can be somewhat nebulous and I assume that even reliable sources are not entirely consistent with what they mean by "hoax". -Location (talk) 15:30, 19 August 2017 (UTC)

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