【Obsession Archives】

Facebook Live was conceived to put viewers in the middle of a scene.

SEE ALSO: Those Facebook Lives from space are Obsession Archivesfake AF

But what happens when that scene is fake? A Facebook page called “Newsfeed” took a heavily manipulated weather GIF, turned it into a video, added a standard thundering storm sound loop, and streamed it live for four hours.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Guess what? It went absolutely nuts.At one point, more than 90,000 people were watching it at the same time. The video got more than 14 million views, 360,000 shares, 256,000 comments, and 900,000 reactions.

Naturally, people pointed out in the comments and on Twitter that the video was fake, but that didn't stop users from watching and sharing it:

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The original GIF was posted on the @earthescope Twitter account on July 17 with the description "Majestic South Dakota tornadic supercell caught on camera by Marko Korosec."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

The photographer acknowledged the picture's incredible success with an Instagram post, saying the shot was taken on June 19, 2015, and produced by his friend @jonathanwennstroem:

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

View this post on Instagram

"Newsfeed" was not alone in posting the fake livestreaming. On July 15, UNILAD Tech posted a similar animation of the storm which gathered "only" 700,000 views:

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

So the question now is: Amid all the uproar about fake news, what is Facebook doing to crack down on these kind of hoaxes?

The company is currently tacking the issue with algorithm tweaks and AI to downrate or even block such posts, but clearly there's still work to be done, according to Matt Navarra, director of social media for TheNextWeb.

"Yet again, Facebook shows just how vulnerable it is to spammy fake ‘Live’ videos," he told Mashable.

"It’s no surprising the growth hack tactic worked given the captivating footage used… and how Facebook continues to boost the reach of live video in News Feed."

"The problem is there's still money to be made by pumping out this stuff to scrape up tons of new Page Likes. These spammy Pages can then get sold on for hundred or thousands of dollars."

"One thing this post does underline is (original) content may NOT be king on Facebook… for now," Navarra concluded.

---

Featured Video For You

---

Jaime Lannister reveals his soulmate—and it's not Cersei

---

• Social Good
• Science
• Entertainment
• Games
• Life
• Shopping
• Tech
• Digital Culture

• Amazon Pet Day: All the best deals
• Donald Trump throws away his notes, calling them 'boring'
• Apple self
• Oprah and Lizzo singing along to Adele is pure joy
• Today's Hurdle hints and answers for May 5, 2025
• Activists show up at Facebook HQ to demand better privacy
• Goodbye conservatorship. Hello independent Britney Spears.
• 7 essential apps that will help you redecorate or redesign your house
• Best iPad deal: Save $132 on Apple iPad (10th Gen)
• 'Mr. Zuckerberg' explains the internet to elderly senators

• Best speaker deal: The Soundcore Motion 300 wireless speaker is 20% off at Amazon
• Where polar bears will die out first as Arctic sea ice plummets
• 'GTA 6' 2025 release date window confirmed by Rockstar Games
• How to turn off Google AI Overviews
• Dada identified “suspicious practices” in internal audit, shares slump · TechNode
• A cub died on the bear cams, a harsh testimony of the bear world
• Apple's super
• All your 'Bridgerton' Season 3 crushes, ranked
• China sets up taskforce to boost development of solid
• China's chip imports decline by 15.4% y

• Best headphones deal: Save up to 51% on Beats at Amazon
• ‘Red Notice’ plays like ‘Blue’s Clues’ for grown
• MindBody crashed, so studios, teachers, and fitness lovers were pissed
• Amazon finally launches a Prime Video app for the Mac
• Skype is finally shutting down
• New campaign highlights stories of migrant community members supplying our holiday dinners
• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle want people to donate to charity rather than sending wedding gifts
• Samsung's One UI 4 brings new customization options for your Galaxy S21 phone
• Best robot vacuum deal: Save $200 on Eufy X10 Pro Omni robot vacuum
• A guide to floral foam videos, the slime videos of 2018

• The Mismeasure of Media
• A guide to floral foam videos, the slime videos of 2018
• Not going to Coachella? You can still watch Beyoncé perform
• Sparkles are all you need to make a good meme
• The Mismeasure of Media
• The inspiration behind the cheese balls cold open on 'The Office'
• MindBody crashed, so studios, teachers, and fitness lovers were pissed
• Where the infrastructure bill's $7.5 billion for EV charging is needed most
• How to Easily Make iPhone Ringtones Using Only iTunes
• How to set up an Apple TV