In this day and age, people create hoaxes as a way to gain attention and achieve that elusive “15 minutes of fame” everyone wants. With the state of reality TV in today’s society, there was a recent case in the news about a couple that created the hoax that their young son was trapped in a hot air balloon. They later admitted the reason they did this was to land a reality show deal. This is the biggest indication we have that reality TV, as we know it, is spiraling out of control. It is the reason people have been creating hoaxes lately.

Another recent event in the news was a couple that crashed a formal dinner party at the White House. Once again, the couple was hoping to get a reality show out of the ordeal. They will not succeed in doing so any more than the couple behind what is known as the “ballon boy hoax” will. Yet people will try anything these days to land themselves unwarranted and undeserved fame. 

As if these two examples aren’t bad enough, we also have the case of a custody dispute that one party is hoping will help lead to a reality show deal. The custody dispute in question is between former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol, and Levi Johnston, the father of Bristol’s baby. Johnston has gone so far as to get an agent and admit to the public that he is hoping all the hoopla surrounding the custody battle will land him his own reality show. This is how low we have sunk to as a society, we have people using their own kids to try and score fame and fortune for themselves.

The simplest answer as to why people create hoaxes is that they can. They can and they do because it gets them the attention they are craving and simply don’t know how else to get. Many people will create a hoax so they can play the victim, such as in the “balloon boy” case. People are looking for sympathy from others, even if it is undeserved sympathy.

The recent influx of hoaxes is a good indication that the days of reality TV need to either end, or change drastically. People need to understand that creating a hoax just to get attention and sympathy is a vain attempt to gain the kind of fame no one should want. Hoaxes were not meant to make people famous and hopefully someday people will realize that.