(Image source: Digital Trends)
BY TRACY PFEIFFER
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Turns out -- a recent study claiming people with lower IQs are more likely to use Internet Explorer -- was an elaborate hoax.
The BBC is credited with definitively unearthing the hoax, saying it looked deeper into the company behind the study -- AptiQuant -- and found some red flags.
“...a deeper dive into the site revealed that much of the company information it contained had been imported from a French research company called Central Test. Photos of the Paris-based firm’s staff were even copied on the AptiQuant site, with the individuals’ names changed but their professional credits left largely intact.”
TG Daily notes -- it wasn’t just niche websites that got this one wrong.
“After readers became skeptical of the study - which was reported by CNN, Forbes, BBC, and other highly regarded news organizations - it was discovered the AptiQuant site was just established less than a month ago.”
And yes -- it also made it onto Newsy.
ALLIE SPILLYARDS, NEWSY: “The saying goes -- don’t judge a book by its cover -- but what about judging a person by their web browser? Or how about -- their IQ?”
A writer for TIME’s Techland says -- reporters should’ve seen this one coming.
“The title of AptiQuant's press release: ‘Is Internet Explorer For The Dumb? A New Study Suggests Exactly That.’ And that sort of rhetoric, frankly, should have been all the media needed to laugh these guys out the door. ...Let's hope it's just a prank and not some underhanded scheme by a rival. It's certainly an object lesson in why rigorous source-checking is paramount (or at least more skeptical reporting).”
Finally, a writer for Mashable says -- in the media’s defense, it was a pretty good trick, as far as hoaxes go.
“What’s amazing about this hoax is the attention to detail on AptiQuant’s website. For example, you can find earlier studies (also copy/pasted from Central Test’s studies), FAQ and the company’s full address... Furthermore, after releasing the initial article and the ‘study’ behind it, AptiQuant did not remain silent, publishing a follow-up article saying it’s been threatened by a lawsuit from loyal IE users.”
Reports say AptiQuant has not responded to requests for comment -- so nobody know who’s behind the hoax -- or why they did it.
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