Photographer’s Fake Death Makes Real Headlines

Maxine Sewell’s accidental death-by-hanging story, by her camera strap, attracted some interesting numbers when it was posted. 

I keep scratching my head and wondering why so many folks cared to stop what they were doing and read it. She had no real friends. She wasn’t liked. She had no followers. Could it be that strangers wanted to revel in the gory details of how an unknown photographer who wound up accidentally killing herself while taking pictures of a storm?

Sure. Why not? We’re all just a little bit sick in our heads, pervertedly attracted to train wrecks as they happen (LOL). Dark humour aside, the story tracked exceptionally well. Dressed as a genuine news item, over 700 people followed the story to http://wp.me/p2KLp8-eAf (now defunct link) on the day it was posted to Facebook. It was completely unexpected… and the traffic continued for weeks after.

So why this piece and not all the others that came before it? What made this WordPress post stand out?

The others were book promos focused on the content inside my books. In brief, fewer people care about book promos than news. Real-life drama and death matter more.

There was one other thing that played a role: Timing.

The post had been sitting in my drafts folder for weeks. I’d been waiting for the perfect moment when a thunderstorm passed over the city. When one arrived and made the news, mine was leaked out along with the authentic content. It was a plausible storm story that paralleled many others, and the lines between fact and fiction blurred.

So what now?

SEETHINGS has several other instances of death that can be converted to what can look like authentic news items. Over the next year, more post-broadcasts will be made to do the same.

The source of the hanging story is downloadable and free for a limited time from here.

-Mx