Qantas Facebook scam, global wedding crawls, and the solar eclipse
This week we were reminded of just how vigilant we have to be online when thousands were fooled by a fake Qantas Facebook page. The ‘Qantas Airline’ page claimed that the airline was giving away free first class flights in celebration of seating 3 million passengers to-date. People just had to like and share the post and within 16 hours it had amassed 36,790 likes and had been shared 44,243 times. A fairly common method used to ‘farm’ likes and sell the pages on, the page has since been removed and the official page has alerted its followers to the scam.
It’s hard enough planning one wedding, so we’ve been in awe of the couple spotted on social media this week who are attempting 38 weddings around the world in 83 days. The adventurous couple, Cheetah and Rhiann who also happen to be acrobats, are sharing their love and extraordinary photos online throughout their three-month wedding journey which will culminate in a huge party with the couple’s friends back in Los Angeles on May 2. Follow #worldwidewedding for more from this loved up couple.
The Northern hemisphere is abuzz with people excited about the solar eclipse and cameras and phones are prised to capture the moment for social media. Before you head out and get snap-happy however, remember not to photograph the solar eclipse and risk blindness all in the name of a selfie. The College of Optometrists warned that using your phone or a camera to take a picture of the solar eclipse may be as harmful as looking at the eclipse with your naked eye. In the age of the selfie where we document every moment of our lives with a picture, we wonder how many awe struck viewers will be able to resist the urge to capture this natural wonder.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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