As of this writing, Morgan Freeman is still alive. The rumor that he had passed from this mortal plane ran around Twitter and Facebook last night. Slate tells us how it happened:

People believed it. Now there will be CONSEQUENCES:

Does that mean they're going to start punching reluctant sources? This tells you how easy people are fooled. It's not a question of gullible youth and their newfangled social-media devices; anyone who's received re:re:re:re:re:re MUST READ from a senior relative knows that gullibility can strike at any age. Just a reminder: verify before your retweet. Thank you. This has been a message from the Committee to Stop Clogging Up Twitter with Hoaxy Hashtags.

(By the way, Hoaxy Hashtags are playing the Entry this weekend.)