# The Onion tweets fake Congress gunfire **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084 "2011-09-29T23:56:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/1 "2011-09-29T23:56:25Z")
Man, I love the [Onion](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/the-onion-tweets-screams-and-gunfire--wheres-the-humor/2011/09/29/gIQASpCI7K_blog.html). They posted tweets saying that Congress were holding kids hostage at gunpoint. People are pissed. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/2 "2011-09-30T00:07:04Z")
Buahaha. I love the guy who reads the Onion, presumably knowing that it’s a joke website, sees that gunfire has been “reported” from inside the Capitol and his reaction is to scream to his coworkers that they’re under attack. Aside from that guy, who’s just pissed that he made himself look like a complete doofus, the rest is all just recreational outrage. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/3 "2011-09-30T00:30:24Z")
This has been making me laugh all day. All of the people commenting on their Facebook posts “THIS IS NOT FUNNY” and “YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR, ONION” were hilarious enough but then when the WaPo started reporting that the Capitol police were taking it seriously? Oh, man. Comedy gold. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/4 "2011-09-30T01:14:32Z")
“YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR, ONION” Laughing my ASS off. [This](http://www.theonion.com/video/video-from-inside-congressional-hostage-situation,26208/)video is killin me. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/5 "2011-09-30T02:26:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Although cell phones were confiscated immediately, one student managed to tweet a short video showing what appeared to be Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pistol-whipping a chaperone who attempted to yell for help. That killed me, just picturing Schumer pistol whipping someone. I totally want them to make that video. He gives a good tongue lashing, now I’m seeing him beating some poor teacher then correcting his reading glasses. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/6 "2011-09-30T02:31:35Z")
“BREAKING: Witnesses reporting screams and gunfire heard inside Capitol Building” Yeah, that’s some quality satire. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/7 "2011-09-30T02:31:39Z")
Who in the world follows the Onion on Twitter without actually knowing that everything they say is a joke? ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/8 "2011-09-30T03:22:43Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > “breaking: Witnesses reporting screams and gunfire heard inside capitol building” > > yeah, that’s some quality satire. YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR, ONION. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/9 "2011-09-30T03:26:56Z")
This is not, thank god, a repeat from [1954](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Capitol_shooting_incident_%281954%29). ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/10 "2011-09-30T13:41:54Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > “BREAKING: Witnesses reporting screams and gunfire heard inside Capitol Building” > > Yeah, that’s some quality satire. By itself, no, but it’s not meant to be taken by itself. A lot of the later tweets were pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/11 "2011-09-30T13:45:10Z")
It’s not the first time people have thought Onion stories are real, people are stupid. BTW, did you here George W. Bush fell down the steps of the Washington Monument? ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/12 "2011-09-30T16:37:31Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > BTW, did you here George W. Bush fell down the steps of the Washington Monument? Wait that wasn’t real? But it explained so much! One of my friends is a Texas Republican whenever people talk about Bush I think back to my favorite quote of his. “He wasn’t so fucking stupid when we elected him as governor, I think he got brain damage somewhere during his first year as president” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/13 "2011-09-30T16:49:24Z")
> [@Terraplane](#): > > By itself, no, but it’s not meant to be taken by itself. Unfortunately that’s all some people saw because that’s how Twitter works. I’m not outraged about it because I’m not panicky, knew it was the Onion, and was positive it was part of a joke after I checked some real news sites, which was a process that took maybe a minute. They didn’t execute the joke well. The later stuff sounds funny. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/14 "2011-09-30T16:59:24Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Unfortunately that’s all some people saw because that’s how Twitter works. I’m not outraged about it because I’m not panicky, knew it was the Onion, and was positive it was part of a joke after I checked some real news sites, which was a process that took maybe a minute. They didn’t execute the joke well. The later stuff sounds funny. But why would you believe it was real when you saw it was from the Onion? Has the Onion ever had breaking news that was real? Or any news for that matter? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/15 "2011-09-30T17:04:40Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > But why would you believe it was real when you saw it was from the Onion? I didn’t believe it was real. I wasn’t sure because there was no joke in the tweet, so I went and checked. I don’t think it’s something people should scream and cry about, but I can actually understand the confusion. “Witnesses reporting screams and gunfire heard inside capitol building” is not something that is obviously made up like the rest of the Onion’s material. If they’d started with the stuff about Congressmen taking people hostage, it would have been clear. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/16 "2011-09-30T17:09:04Z")
The next \*Onion \*has to play with this somehow. _Panic: U.S. Capitol Under Attack by Nukes, Drones, Grenades, Spears, Arrows and Bharmounxiao the Demon_ ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/17 "2011-09-30T17:43:39Z")
I think it’s safe to say that joke or no joke, if it’s from the Onion it is not to be believed. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/18 "2011-09-30T19:25:57Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > I think it’s safe to say that joke or no joke, if it’s from the Onion it is not to be believed. The thing is, even though it’s probably a safe bet that everyone _here_ knows what The Onion is, a lot of people don’t. And although their videos are pretty obvious, their newspaper-like stories sometimes aren’t. They’re so well written that they can easily pass as genuine news articles, and many of them just aren’t very funny, falling under the “I told him his shoe was untied, and he actually looked!!!” category. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/19 "2011-09-30T19:36:05Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > The thing is, even though it’s probably a safe bet that everyone _here_ knows what The Onion is, a lot of people don’t. And although their videos are pretty obvious, their newspaper-like stories sometimes aren’t. They’re so well written that they can easily pass as genuine news articles, and many of them just aren’t very funny, falling under the “I told him his shoe was untied, and he actually looked!!!” category. But how many people follow them on Twitter without knowing what the Onion is? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084/20 "2011-09-30T19:37:22Z")
But even if people _don’t_ know what The Onion is, they still shouldn’t have taken it seriously. I mean, I (or anyone else) could register the Twitter ID “The Daily Garlic”, or whatever, and tweet far-out news stories. Should anyone take me any more seriously than any other random crank on the Internet? The thought process _should_ be “Is this a news source I know of and have reason to respect?”, not “Well someone I’ve never heard of said it, so it must be true!”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-onion-tweets-fake-congress-gunfire/598084.md?page=2)