Pills, Limitless and the Art of the Viral Con

The Internet loves to be conned—pwned, if you will. From rickrolling to 4chan to various hacks, the Internet is fraught with scams, frauds and pranks. For better or worse, the Internet’s discussion boards are filled with people arguing the plausibility of videos, images, and audio bytes—the most granular of discussions. Usually, the conversation doesn’t go much farther than “FAKE,” labeling the OP a “TROLL,” but sometimes there are a few brave souls who are willing to forgo sleep to scour the web and dissect the object in order to prove whether or not it is real. Take, for example, last week's brilliant Times Square viral con.