Kolkata-based Rajdeep Naskar hasn’t been able to come to terms with a recent viral 'news' that claims he defecated in the building premises of his former girlfriend's house. The news stemmed from a fake newspaper clipping Naskar's friends made about him.
The fake newspaper clipping alleges that 23-year-old Naskar was beaten up by the family of a woman he was earlier in a relationship with, when he was caught trying to defecate in the latter’s compound. This, the news clipping claims, was an act of revenge that Naskar undertook to get back at his ex-girlfriend. However, the plan was foiled when he was caught in action.
The headline of the clipping, that is viral reads: Howrah's Rajdwip Naskar, who went to defecate on his ex-girlfriend's compound as revenge, beaten up black and blue by locals. (এক্স গার্লফ্রেন্ডের থেকে বদলা নিতে তার বাড়ির উঠানে হাগতে গিয়ে পাড়ার লোকজনের কাছে গণপিটুনি খেলেন রজদ্বীপ নস্কর।)
The clipping is viral on WhatsApp as well.
BOOM checked the front page of Aajkal newspaper for the same date and found no such article.
Meme Maker's Meme Goes Wrong!
Naskar, a young graduate from a Kolkata college, is a self-proclaimed meme creator on Facebook. He began creating pages on social media out of boredom but is now an admin of five Facebook pages which has more than 1 lakh followers.
Naskar knew the tricks of creating memes that can go viral, until it boomeranged on him. When BOOM got in touch with him, he said, “My friend had created this meme (the fake newspaper clipping), using a newspaper template for fun. We often take these templates, edit them with satires and publish on Facebook. He edited an original front page of the Aajkal newspaper to publish a funny article on me and circulate it among our friends. It was all done in good humour.”
However, Naskar claims he has no idea how it spread like wild fire. “I perhaps got a taste of my own medicine. Moments after my friend shared this meme on his Facebook profile, it was picked up by other pages. It was shared more than 40 times in the first few minutes,” Naskar said. As a damage control, Naskar urged other page admins, with whom he is in touch with, to delete the post. Several obliged. However, others retained, as Naskar claims.
How A Meme Went Viral Overnight
The reason, Naskar feels, that such a fake satirical newspaper clip went viral, was because of a similar news about Dhupguri-based Ananta Burman, who sat on a dharna to win his lover back. Ananta Burman’s protest was widely covered by the social and mainstream media alike.
“Ananta Burman’s feat of winning his ladylove back had caught the interest of a lot of youngsters. The morphed image was more viral because it was released when Ananta’s news was at its peak. It was a similar story. While Ananta sat on a fast unto death protest, the fake news clip said that I went to defecate as an act of revenge,” Naskar analysed.
Damage Control?
Naskar is now worried. “I thought the message would stop circulating after a few days. But it has been a week that I have been getting calls about this authenticity. Though most of them understand that the meme was a joke, a few still believe that it is true. They call me to clarify it,” said Naskar to BOOM.
While Naskar has published a post on his Facebook profile claiming that the clip is fake, he admits that he needs to take stock of the situation. “I will be careful the next time I make memes on anyone.”