Abraham Lincoln Pioneering the Original 'Social Network' Was a Hoax
Contrary to the recent claims made, Abraham Lincoln did not invent the first ever social network in the U.S.
This news originated from a person in Milwaukee named Nate St. Pierre who visited the Lincoln Library in Springfield, Illinois. While there, it was discovered that the former president filed a patent application for a newspaper that would display some of the same features that we see in Facebook today, including profiles with pictures and status updates.
The paper would be used to "keep people aware of others in the town."
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But this news turned out to be false after the Lincoln Library was contacted by TheAtlantic.com, who inquired about this social network patent the Lincoln supposedly filed.
"This is a complete hoax," said David Blanchette at the Lincoln Library to TheAtlantic.com. "They didn't run pictures in the newspapers back then. We had nothing to do with it."
St. Pierre has admitted to it being a hoax and claims he did it as a gag, and to stir things up.
"I just wanted to have fun with it," said St. Pierre. "I've done this before. Every couple of years, I do a hoax. I knew this would go big but didn't expect those dozens of outlets to just run with it without 30 seconds of fact checking."
And to St. Pierre, the hoax he created came out of his lack of enthusiasm for most of the current internet content.
"I was crabby; I was in a bad mood; I was tired of looking around at all the boring lame stuff online- all the same people rehashing the same things," said St. Pierre to TheAtlantic.com.
He wanted to write something everyone would read that was quite sensational and the scenario of Lincoln inventing Facebook seemed like the perfect choice.
