Hoax vs Literature

A hoax is a story that someone or people make up that is believed to be true by a multitude of people. Hoaxes always have aspects to them that make people want to believe. Some aspects include hope, connecting with a social “trend,” and empathy. Hope feeds into our human instinct to want a “happy” ending. Connecting with a social “trend” helps people relate to the story. Empathy ensues compassion, which makes us perceive the story from the creator’s point of view, even if the story sounds false. One distinction between a hoax and literature is the style of writing. Literature has more formal writing, while hoaxes tend to be in prose. Another distinction between the two is their objectives. Literature is used to simply tell a story, while hoaxes want to persuade you into believing something that is false.