
In October, 16-year-old Kara Alongi went missing shortly after she posted a brief, frantic tweet: “There is someone in my hour ecall 911.” Just hours after the tweet was uploaded, it had gone viral – her account accumulating nearly 100,000 new followers, and more than 33,000 people retweeting her virtual cry for help. Within minutes, #HelpFindKara emerged as a trending topic. But the Kara crisis was eventually revealed to be a hoax, as reports concluded that Alongi had not been kidnapped. The hot hashtag quickly evolved into a satirical thread – #HelpFindKara a good therapist, #HelpFindKara a good therapist…you get the idea.