Twitter confusion sees Morph creator Tony Hart mourned for a second time
False reports of the death of Morph creator Tony Hart did the rounds on Twitter over the weekend causing ‘Tony Hart’ to trend on Twitter in the UK today (16 February).
Social media users re-mourned the death of the TV personality who starred in Vision On, Playbox, Take Hart and Hartbeat, and also designed the original Blue Peter ship logo.
Proving the point that you shouldn’t believe everything you read on the internet, ill-informed social media users mourned the death of the presenter.
Tony Hart probably had an influence on your creativity if you grew up in the 70's. RIP #tonyhart pic.twitter.com/EOQoHN9n8p
— Jon Carter (@MonkeymafiaJC) February 15, 2015
Awwww Tony Hart has died. Used to love him on tv as a kid.
— Rick Houghton © ⤷ (@Hortini) February 15, 2015
Tony Hart! Ahh, that's sad news.
— Garconne (@GarconneLondon) February 16, 2015
Nooooooo Tony Hart Has died. The legend that created morph. Rip
— Cllr Daniel Moore (@dan1326) February 15, 2015
Many even linked through to the Guardian obituary, paying tribute to the presenter after his death in 2009 due to a bout of ill health at the age of 83.
Tony Hart, artist and inspiration for children, dies at 83 http://t.co/j6XgYs4S3l
— DrAnnaArrowsmith (@annaarrowsmith) February 15, 2015
The trend continued despite several social media users pointing out the obvious.
Very sad to hear that Tony Hart had died again. Twice in 5 years is very unlucky #RIP
— Andehh (@andehh12) February 16, 2015
John McMahon, managing director of digital marketing agency MCM Net, said: “A simple tweet posted by one individual whom had mistakenly believed Tony Hart had just died, caused a tsunami of responses leading to ‘Tony Hart’ trending on the social platform, who we all know passed away in 2009.
“This once again highlights how quickly people take the information posted by one individual on social media as simple fact without checking other resources. Rather than acting as a source of accurate information, online media frequently promotes misinformation in an attempt to drive traffic and social engagement and this is where businesses must be careful.”
This comes after social media users mistook the tragic death of actor Robin Williams last year for that of musician Robbie Williams.