Topics: News, Jimmy Fallon, Elon Musk, Social Media, Twitter
Jimmy Fallon has called on Elon Musk to stop #RIPJimmyFallon from trending on Twitter.
The rumors of the late-night talk show host’s death began swirling after one Twitter user jokingly posted the hashtag along with a photo of James Corden.
Gone but not forgotten. Rest easy king 🕊🥀
— Eclipse Shade🍥 (@EclipseShade69) November 16, 2022
Sept 19, 1974-Nov 15, 2022 #RIPJimmyFallon pic.twitter.com/3HG2HkNSV8
"Gone but not forgotten. Rest easy king. Sept 19, 1974-Nov 15, 2022 #RIPJimmyFallon," the user wrote.
Not long after, the tributes to the former SNL star began pouring out.
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One user wrote: #RIPJimmyFallon. Taken too soon."
Another said: "Rest in Peace Jimmy Fallon, famous actor that appeared in the gyrosphere scene in Jurassic World. #RIP #RIPJimmyFallon."
While a third person shared: "Just found out what happened. Damn. #RIPJimmyFallon."
It's worth noting that Jimmy Fallon is not dead and is very much alive at the moment, which is why he was so confused about why a hashtag like that would start trending.
The comedian was quick to dispel the rumors and even enlisted Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk to step in and help.
Elon, can you fix this? #RIPJimmyFallon
— Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon) November 16, 2022
Fallon wrote: “Elon, can you fix this? #RIPJimmyFallon.”
However, the Tesla CEO didn’t provide much assistance.
He tweeted at Fallon: “Fix what?”
He continued: “Wait a second, how do we know you’re not an alien body snatcher pretending to be Jimmy!?
“Say something that only the real Jimmy would say.”
The SpaceX founder instead delegated the job to a different department: “Sounds like a job for @CommunityNotes!”
Well, maybe if he hadn’t laid off half of the company’s employees, staff could quickly prevent misinformation from disseminating, pal?
Fix what?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2022
Wait a second, how do we know you’re not an alien body snatcher pretending to be Jimmy!?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2022
Say something that only the real Jimmy would say …
Sounds like a job for @CommunityNotes!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2022
According to ABC News, Musk terminated Twitter's outsourced content moderators over the weekend, who are responsible for managing misinformation on the social media platform.
Melissa Ingle, who worked at Twitter as a contractor for over a year, was one of the contractors let go on Saturday.
She's worried the mass firing will increase harmful and hate-filled content on Twitter.
“I love the platform and I really enjoyed working at the company and trying to make it better. And I’m just really fearful of what’s going to slip through the cracks,” she said, as per ABC News.
Earlier this month, CBS News reported that researchers at Montclair State University discovered that merely 12 hours after Musk took ownership, Twitter became significantly more ‘hostile’, with 4,778 hate-filled tweets.
The research team saw that harmful rhetoric, including posts with the ‘n-word’, ‘k-word’ or ‘f-work’ had an ‘immediate, visible, and measurable spike.’
They said that 67 per cent of these tweets had a ‘negative tone surrounding the use of hate terms’.
The study read: “The data conclusively shows that there is correlation between Musk’s arrival and a broader perceived acceptability to posted hostile content on Twitter.”
They added: "Future research should continue to monitor Twitter to see if reduced moderation was actually a policy focus of Musk or, rather, a branding attempt to appeal to users who want to participate in a more rebellious social media space."
