The Latualatuka Chain Letter
Would everyone please stop spreading and copying this vile piece of scaremongering all around the internet! It’s pure and utter bunkum, so just desist from making people crap themselves and tricking them into putting this superstitious claptrap on every MySpace account, YouTube page and blog.
For anyone who doesn’t know what I’m talking about, the one thing I won’t do is further the terrible scam by repeating it on Pop Buzz UK. It’s basically a hugely successful but morally wrong chain letter that’s doing the rounds. Posted on various pages, mainly in the comments section, will be a short story, pre-empted by WARNING, PLEASE DON’T READ! It then goes on to tell the story of a mythical murder, and then warns that as you have read the story, the spirit of the murder victim will steal your soul on the next full moon. Unless of course (and here’s the rub) you retype the above message on 3 other videos/blogs/myspace pages.
According to Wikipedia…”As of January 2007, the chain letter accounts for about 10% of all comments made on featured YouTube videos. The chain letter appeals to the superstitious gullibility of people. Because it demands triple forwarding and because one instance may propagated by several people, the chain letter was able to spread exponentially, much to the annoyance to more skeptic YouTube users. Forwarders get often verbally attacked by others for their apparent lack of intelligence, pointing out the absurdity of the chain letter. Many parodies have been created, though it has been speculated that the original letter might have been intended to be a parody itself.”
There is also speculation that this whole message could be an arkward attempt at viral marketing for a new movie on the way, presumably about ‘Latualatuka’. Whatever the origin, I think it’s pretty sick, because it scares people into following an order. Chain letters have been around for years of course, and I remember getting one through the post in the past, that instructed me to send it on to 10 people or I would have bad luck, etc etc, blah blah de blah. In the end, some resourceful and kind people, including the police would allow them to be forwarded on to them for disposal.
And now in the days of the Internet and instant messaging, this seems to be the new craze, and I can see it getting worse. My advice is to read it, and NOT forward it on, that’s exactly what I did. We’ve just had a full moon in the UK so if my soul was going anywhere, it’s too late for me! The only good thing to come out of this is the very funny, often sardonic piss takes which have since flooded YouTube. Some of these rewrites are very well done, and I’ve had fun searching for and reading them.
So is this the first of many big memes? Or will the appeal die out as those who are inflicting them are ridiculed? Please feel free to share your opinion on the subject.
Latualatuka, Chain Letter, Spam, Latualatuka Chain Letter, YouTube, You Tube, MySpace, My Space, Blog, UK
February 8th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Hey! Thanks for stopping by, and I’m all for Jack … but last night’s episode tore me up … what a love triangle!
I can’t get my technorati tags to work and I see that you’ve gotten yours to work, any suggestions or links on the tech site to point me in the right direction?
Thanks!!
February 8th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Ug. That meme makes me crazy.
February 8th, 2007 at 10:26 pm
Sadly, your cry for intelligence will go unheard by those who need to hear it most. I too am absolutely fed up with it, but no one listens to us smart folks. *sigh*
February 9th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
That’s awful! I wasn’t aware of this meme, but I have to say when I was a kid, there was a similar type of short story in an edited volume that absolutely scared the life out of me (I was a bit of a sissy when it came to this stuff). Thanks for the heads up, because even though I’m older and should be wiser, this stuff still makes me nuts
February 9th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
Oh wow! I hadn’t read quite far enough to see your conjecture on viral marketing. I live ouside of Boston…did you see what happened here last week because of a marketing stunt gone awry? Many people across the US think it’s oh-so-funny that we were shut down over that stunt. (Tell that to the guy that had to wait 35 minutes for an ambulence.) Hmmm…maybe “viral” marketing should be seen as the plague that it sometimes is!
February 9th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Sarah, I’ll email you re Technorati.
This meme is absolutely awful, not to mention a pain in the ass. I was freaked at first Cyndi, so you aren’t alone, then I pulled myself together. I did read about what happened in Boston, and though I think some virals are fun, when it causes problems for individuals or groups, it really does become a plague.
February 10th, 2007 at 12:01 am
Really good post. I don’t know why people believe in any form of chain letters, especially on the internet.
May 8th, 2007 at 7:04 am
In 1945, a young girl named kata lata kulu came over to America in a grey boat from Africa. A mysterious man killed her by cutting the word KATUALAKULA into her back. now that you have read this measge she will come to your house and steal your soul unless you follow these directions: 1. Retype this message as a comment to three other videos
May 8th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Funny! :[
June 25th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
viral anything $UCK$ A$$
June 26th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
I couldn’t have put it better myself!