The apparent online hoax involving standout Notre Dame football player Manti Te’o has dominated news coverage this week, and local news outlets WKYC-TV, WJW-TV FOX-8 and WAKR-AM news radio interviewed JMC’s Stefanie Moore, an assistant professor in the PR sequence who focuses on digital PR trends and tactics, about some of the troubling social digital implications of this story.
Te’o’s case raises complicated issues about truth and fabrication and the murkiness of an online practice known as “cat-fishing,” a form of digital hoaxing that involves developing a fake persona to deceive an unwitting romantic suitor. In a televised interview with WKYC reporter Sara Shookman on WKYC’s January 17 newscast, Moore discussed how Internet anonymity can lead to deception and loss of privacy.
“This case emphasizes how easy it is to fall victim to Internet hoaxes and how sophisticated some of them can be,” Moore said. “It reminds us to be skeptical of whom we meet online and cautious about what we share with people before we’ve had a chance to do our homework or meet them face-to-face.”
Moore currently teaches the Online PR Tactics, PR Case Studies and new Social Media Strategies courses. She formerly managed Flash Communications, the student-PR agency housed in University Communications and Marketing. Prior to joining JMC’s faculty, Moore was an eight-year member of the university’s Web team.