A French scientist has suddenly become the center of attention, while also becoming the target of public criticism for “trolling” the Twitter user community.
In a post on July 31, Mr. Étienne Klein shared on his personal Twitter an image of a large red round object, accompanied by a statement claiming it was an image of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun that we know of, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope itself. He even wrote: “Unprecedented detail… A new world opens up every day.”
In reality, the photo shows a slice of sausage placed on a black background.
The scientist’s post attracted thousands of likes on Twitter. Most users praised the achievements of the advanced telescope system until Mr. Klein confessed his “crime.” In fact, the photo he shared was a slice of chorizo, a famous smoked sausage originating from Europe.
In subsequent Twitter posts, Mr. Klein referred to the kitchen-captured astronomical image as “a form of entertainment” and noted that most Twitter users who reacted to the photo had fallen victim to cognitive bias.
People who saw the image quickly jumped to conclusions upon seeing the keywords “JWST” – the abbreviation for the James Webb Space Telescope, and “Proxima Centauri” – the closest star to the Sun, while simultaneously equating a large, round, red object with a star.
The event had such a significant impact that it earned Mr. Klein an interview with Le Point newspaper. In response to a reporter’s question, Mr. Étienne Klein continued to explain that the photo was just a harmless joke: “This is the first time I’ve played a joke on everyone while serving as a representative for the research department of [my workplace].”
He added: “[The post] also shows the truth that on social media like this, fake news always succeeds more than real news. I also think that if I hadn’t mentioned the image was taken by the James Webb, it wouldn’t have been as successful.”
At this moment, Mr. Klein’s post has garnered nearly 19,600 likes.