The Three Stages of Acceptance of the Manti Te'o Not-Dead Girlfriend Mega-Hoax:
Eyes bug open.
Jaw hits floor.
Fingers pound keyboard.
The social media response to this bizarre, stunning story was immediate, cynical, hysterical and -- yes -- even occasionally thoughtful.
What exactly went on here? Was Manti in on it? Why would Ronaiah Tuiasosopo invent a girlfriend? Great questions! We have no idea. Yet.
The one thing we do know for certain, however, is this will all continue to play out exactly where it all began: online. Here are some of the best Te'o hoax tweets we've seen so far, including this first one, which might not have been about the hoax initially, but reads a whole lot differently today.
The worst thing you can do is fool yourself!
— Manti Te'o (@MTeo_5) November 21, 2012
If this Manti Te'o story is true, its incredibly disturbing and yet another dagger for those that want to believe in the best of athletes.
— Adam Schick (@AdamDSchick) January 16, 2013
After this Manti Te'o article and several viewings of Catfish recently, I'm convinced that none of you are hot chicks.
— Cee Angi (@CeeAngi) January 16, 2013
The one person who's beyond excited about this Manti Te'o Story? Lance Armstrong.
— Marcus Lynam (@Lynamup5) January 16, 2013
When Manti Te'o tweeted about his two guardian angels twitter.com/michaelhayes/s…
— Mike Hayes (@michaelhayes) January 16, 2013
well maybe one RT @mteo_5: Leave no stone left unturned!
— John Herrman (@jwherrman) January 16, 2013
Manti Te'o wasn't missing tackles in the National Championship, he was hugging his girlfriend.
— Alabama Crimson Tide (@RollTide) January 17, 2013
This Manti Te'o story...I have no words. I'm completely disgusted. I rooted for Notre Dame to succeed because of his story.
— Tim Fontenault (@Tim_Fontenault) January 16, 2013
It turns out Manti Te'o had another college girlfriend named Fawn Leibowitz who died in a kiln explosion while making him a pot.
— Jerry Thornton (@jerrythornton1) January 17, 2013
.@zachdcarter T'eo-ing twitter.com/eliotnelson/st…
— Eliot Nelson (@eliotnelson) January 16, 2013
wait, so is NEV from CATFISH now the person we all reach out to when we suspect someone from the internet is lying about something.........
— Lindsey Weber (@lindseyweber) January 16, 2013
Manti Te'o might see his draft prospects drop but he should probably be No. 1 in the fantasy draft.
— Daniel MacEachern (@DanMacEachern) January 16, 2013
The Manti Te'o thing is the best fake dead sweetheart story since George Costanza used that model's photo to get into the nightclub.
— David Thorpe (@Arr) January 16, 2013
i like a good troll as much as the next guy but this manti te'o thing is some pantheon level stuff.... best.troll.ever.
— Robert Joyner (@robnashville) January 16, 2013
Manti Te’o’s uncle works at Nintendo and they’re making a Mario game set on the Moon and Manti played it but can’t show it to you.
— lawblob (@lawblob) January 16, 2013
In a related story, who is Keyser Söze? Thoughts?
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) January 16, 2013
Follow Jonathan Anker on Twitter @JonFromHLN
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