Here's more evidence that many of our friends -- or really "Facebook Friends" believe just about anything they see in print. You've likely seen the posts on your Facebook timeline many times since early December declaring that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg giving 1,000 lucky Facebook followers $4.5 million each. This is a hoax.
All you supposedly have to do to qualify for the random gift is post this message on your timeline:
"I can't afford not to try this -- (What is the worst that could happen? I spent 30 seconds cutting and pasting this post) THANK YOU, MARK ZUCKERBERG, for your forward-thinking generosity! And congrats on becoming a dad! Mark Zuckerberg has announced that he is giving away $45 billion of Facebook stock. What you may not have heard is that he plans to give 10% of it away to people like YOU and ME! All you have to do is copy and paste this message into a post IMMEDIATELY. At midnight PST, Facebook will search through the day's posts and award 1000 people with $4.5 million EACH as a way of saying thank you for making Facebook such a powerful vehicle for connection and philanthropy. I hope someone I know gets a piece of the pie--let me know if you do!!!"
The hoax started soon after Zuckerberg's real announcement on December 1, 2015, that he would give away to charity 99% of his Facebook stock wealth. Unless you are a charity with the goal of addressing the world's problems (which do include your lack of a Ferrari in the driveway), then you should not expect the gift.
But what the hoax does provide you is a quick way to know which of your Facebook friend are Suckerbergs. It could be useful if you need to sell a bridge in Brooklyn.
