Fake photos of Hurricane Sandy making rounds

Pictures and information on the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy’s effects on the east coast of the U.S. have been posted over the internet on social media websites including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Twitter. Amid the postings many faked pictures have been published designed to shock and in other cases amuse those following the story of the storm, reports ABC News.

Many experts believed Hurricane Sandy would provide U.S. social media users with the chance to use the technology for a good purpose, in a similar way to the use of social media in the Arab Spring uprising. Instead, fake photo’s, including uploaded images from movies have been published online and credited as news photo’s depicting Sandy’s effects.

One such photo is the infamous shark in flood waters fake that was first published during Hurricane Irene; the photo has prompted social media users to spread news of the photo and news agencies to find experts to discuss the possibility of sharks entering flooded neighborhoods. At the height of the storm on Monday Instagram reported ten uploads per second of photo’s bearing the hashtag Sandy; amid the fakes citizen journalists have kept the world updated on a natural disaster like Hurricane Sandy.