by Mick the Ram
Google has been forced to publicly state that its e-mail service “G-mail” will not be shutting down and is very much “here to stay”.
This was after a hoax claiming that the service would end on 1 August 2024 went viral, spreading across social media platforms and causing panic and distress amongst its massive user-base.
A post had appeared on X, formerly Twitter, which has been viewed more than SEVEN million times, making the fake claim in a statement that many took deadly serious, especially as the enormous internet services and consumer electronics company, has been closing some of its features in recent times.
Google themselves took to the same platform to categorically reject the assertion, going as far as to clarify that G-mail was absolutely “going nowhere”, much to the relief of its band of active users totalling in excess of 1.5bn.
Off into the sunset?
The realistic-looking false message carried a headline: “Google is sun-setting G-mail” and a screenshot showed a statement that G-mail would cease all operations, including sending, receiving, and storing emails, as of the specified date given as 1 August 2024.
It sparked almost hysteria on the socials, as fears were ignited closure was imminent.
“Journey coming to a close”
Addressing the note to all G-mail users, it purported to be “reaching out” to share an important update. It said: “After years of connecting millions worldwide, enabling seamless communications, and fostering countless connections, the journey of G-mail is coming to a close.”
It then went on to give the finishing date, which they deemed as “sun-setting” and stated that the decision had been made with “careful consideration of the evolving digital landscape and our commitment to providing high-quality, innovative solutions that meet the needs of our users.”
It closed by saying that despite “progress and adaptation” they were focusing their resources on developing new technologies and platforms which would “continue to revolutionize the way we communicate and interact online”.
Next step is the belief for some
Unsurprisingly, huge numbers of people who rely on the service, took it very seriously indeed, not least because there have been genuine stories over the last few months concerning the deletion of old, inactive G-mail accounts.
“Manipulated media” prompts reassurances
The post was eventually flagged as “manipulated media” on X, which the platform’s policy rulings stress includes anything containing media which has been “significantly and deceptively altered, manipulated, or fabricated” and are strictly prohibited.
Despite that, Google still felt the need to offer absolute reassurance to its massive customer base that G-mail would remain a unswerving and integral part of its overall suite of services.
Source is an adapted old notice
It would appear that the circulated statement had actually come from a modified copy of a previous Google notification, which had been sent regarding the abandoning of the basic HTML view in G-mail messages.
The original HTML view was used when G-mail was first launched way back in 2004, and would be unrecognisable to most people who use the service today.
Unlikely to be the last false claim
Richard Bagnall, boss of the communications evaluation firm, CARMA, made the point that most people believe what they see online, as there is a lack of tools and processes to verify the facts.
He remarked: “While ever social networks can act without responsibility and pump unfiltered, unverified information to their audiences” this G-mail incident will not be the last case we will see.”
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