In the fall of 1969, The Beatles released Abbey Road, and many were ready to review the album. Fred LaBour, a college student from the University of Michigan and writer for The Michigan Daily was assigned to review the album. While listening, a DJ named Russ Gibbs from a radio station called WKNR in Detroit, a random caller was aired on the station said "Did you hear Paul is dead?" Gibbs thought it was a joke but the caller continued explaining why he believed so. Apparently, the caller said when you listen to the song "Revolution 9" backwards, you can hear "Turn me on dead man..." repeatedly. After, calls kept flooding in the radio station drawing many listeners into this alleged rumor. LaBour was very convinced, he began to look for more
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Knapp had explained in his article, A Psychology of Rumor, classifying two different kinds of rumors called the Boogie Rumor and the Wish Rumor. A Boogie Rumor is spreading a rumor based on fear and anxieties, while a Wish Rumor is made from wishful thinking. Wishful thinking is believing something because you imagine it to be true, instead of looking at the facts. Knapp gives this information to be a cognitive way people spread rumors. Paul is Dead related to being a Boogie Rumor because many people spread this rumor thinking there is an impersonator in the band, giving them anxiety and the fear of Paul McCartney actually died. Wishful thinking is added into this rumor as well since people imagined it to be true instead of looking of the facts debunking the rumor, probably because the drugs altered their …show more content…
Sunstein explains in his article Rumor Cascades and Group Polarization the social behavior added into a rumor and how quickly in spreads an informational cascade. A cascade is something (information) is continuously and has successfully passed on. An informational cascade is spread by giving information on something people aren't very familiar with making the informer knowledgeable about the information. The informer can also give false information and people will believe even if they have their doubts because the informer is knowledgeable in the subject. Paul is dead was also spread through people believing the rumor because others believed it too. The informational cascade rumor was spread through a radio stations then a newspaper article, word to mouth and so on making it a successfully passed through the world and the media. The informers, Labour and the unknown caller, gave convincing information and seemed knowledgeable to the listeners thus making the statement about people just believing a rumor because others also do,
Knapp had explained in his article, A Psychology of Rumor, classifying two different kinds of rumors called the Boogie Rumor and the Wish Rumor. A Boogie Rumor is spreading a rumor based on fear and anxieties, while a Wish Rumor is made from wishful thinking. Wishful thinking is believing something because you imagine it to be true, instead of looking at the facts. Knapp gives this information to be a cognitive way people spread rumors. Paul is Dead related to being a Boogie Rumor because many people spread this rumor thinking there is an impersonator in the band, giving them anxiety and the fear of Paul McCartney actually died. Wishful thinking is added into this rumor as well since people imagined it to be true instead of looking of the facts debunking the rumor, probably because the drugs altered their …show more content…
Sunstein explains in his article Rumor Cascades and Group Polarization the social behavior added into a rumor and how quickly in spreads an informational cascade. A cascade is something (information) is continuously and has successfully passed on. An informational cascade is spread by giving information on something people aren't very familiar with making the informer knowledgeable about the information. The informer can also give false information and people will believe even if they have their doubts because the informer is knowledgeable in the subject. Paul is dead was also spread through people believing the rumor because others believed it too. The informational cascade rumor was spread through a radio stations then a newspaper article, word to mouth and so on making it a successfully passed through the world and the media. The informers, Labour and the unknown caller, gave convincing information and seemed knowledgeable to the listeners thus making the statement about people just believing a rumor because others also do,