About
#RIPRichardDawkins is a hashtag used to circulate a hoax regarding the death of author Richard Dawkins, which was orchestrated by Weird Twitter users in March 2015.
Origin
On March 10th, 2015, Twitter user @famoushorse[2] posted the tweet “What a tragic day. You will be missed :,( #RIPricharddawkins” (shown below).
Spread
Minutes later, Twitter user Jeb Lund[3] posted a #RIPRichardDawkins tweet along with the message “Goodnight, sweet prince” (shown below).
That day, other Twitter users began posting the hashtag with jokes about the author’s demise (shown below).[9][10] Also on March 10th, 2015, Slymepit Forums[4] member Ape+lust posted a comment claiming that “justice warriors” were “giddy” over the death hoax, suggesting that a “#RIPAnitaSarkeesian” hashtag be launched as a counter-joke.
On March 11th, Salon[1] published an interview with @famoushorse, who claimed he launched the meme with Twitter user Jeb Lund out of “pure boredom with the hope of eliciting a public freak out from Dawkins.” According to the Twitter analytics site Topsy,[8] the hashtag received over 2,700 mentions in the first 24 hours (shown below). In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the Twitter death hoax, including Epoch Times,[5] Mediaite[6] and International Business Times.[7]
Various Examples
Search Interest
Not available.
External References
[1]Salon – Twitter eulogizes Richard Dawkins
[2]Twitter – @famoushorse
[4]Slymepit – This #RIPRichardDawkins hashtag is utterly bizarre
[5]The Epoch Times – Richard Dawkins Isnt Dead
[6]Mediaite – Richard Dawkins is not Dead
[7]IBI Times – #RIPRichardDawkins Meme Goes Viral Despite Writer being Alive
[8]Topsy – #RIPRichardDawkins
[10]Twitter – @theseantcollins