Kira Hudson's Facebook Lesson

Submission 48,424

Overview

Kira Hudson's Facebook Lesson refers to a social media experiment featuring a photograph of a teenager launched by Colorado resident Kira Hudson in order to demonstrate to her daughter how quickly an image can spread once it is posted on the social networking site Facebook. Shortly after the photograph was posted on Facebook in March 2014, it subsequently drew the attention of users on 4chan and spawned a number of parodies.

Background

On March 18th, 2014, Hudson posted a photograph on Facebook^[1] of her 12-year-old daughter Amia holding a sign reading “Mom is trying to show me how many people can see a picture once it’s on the Internet” (shown below). In the next 48 hours, the post reportedly gained close to one million likes before it was removed.

bq. My 12-year-old daughter doesn't understand why she can't have an Instagram or Facebook account… Please "like and share"… She just doesn't get it! Make sure to first click on the picture, and then hit "share", and change the setting to "public." That way, I get a clear number :) Thank you!

Notable Developments

On 4chan

Later that same day, 4chan users began spreading the image on the /b/ (random) board, including several variations with photoshopped signs mocking the Facebook post and the Hudson’s purported address (shown below). According to The Daily Dot,^[3] the Hudsons received several pizza deliveries and prank calls at their Colorado home.

Hudson's Response

On March 21st, The Huffington Post^[2]updated their article with a statement from Hudson, who claimed 4chan users mistakenly discovered an old address and telephone number for the family.

I am very grateful to all of the parents who have messaged my daughter and me, letting us know that because of our “experiment,” they were able to teach their own children more about Internet safety. This was one lesson that both my daughter and I learned very quickly! I had not anticipated it gaining momentum as fast as it did. It certainly opened my eyes to the fact that I thought my own private Facebook was secure. It was not as secure as I thought. Luckily for us, the information that was gathered by others was not my current residence or phone number. I would like to apologize to the family who is living at our old address and let them know that I hope this hasn’t caused them much distress and the next pizza will be a gift from me. This whole thing has really proven the point, and I am hopeful that even though there have been a few bumps, others can continue to learn from our experience.

News Media Coverage

In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the viral Facebook post, including The Huffington Post,^[2] The Daily Dot,^[3]WHNT News,^[6] The Australian^[4] and CNET.^[5] On March 25th, the TomoNewsUS YouTube channel published an animated video about the controversy (shown below).