Keller @ Large: Internet To Blame For Rise In Hoaxes?

BOSTON (CBS) - Little white lies aren't so bad, don't you think? The innocent fibs we tell each other to make nice serve a purpose, things like "You look great!" and "Oh, my, this is delicious rhubarb pie!"

But I'm having some trouble understanding the big lies about big subjects that people tell, why they do it, and why there seems to be more and more of it.

At least the two Haverhill women who police say made up that Christmas Eve hoax about someone throwing a baby into the Merrimack River were arraigned Monday on serious charges. Their truly vile lie cost the taxpayers $50,000 for the ensuing search and risked the safety of law enforcement personnel.

Why did they do it? You could ask the same of whoever phoned in a terror threat to the Boston area that the cops say was vague and not credible.  Or the retired policeman in his 50's who put a fake bomb in the bathroom of an Air France jet. Or the jerk who sent an e-mail threat to the Los Angeles schools that prompted the entire system to shut down.

I can't prove there are more of these kinds of crimes now than there used to be. It just feels like there are.

And if so, it's not hard to see why. The anonymity of the Internet has empowered people to say all sorts of things they would otherwise never have the nerve to say. And the publicity of it has emboldened even the most deservedly anonymous among us to see a way they can make themselves matter for a minute, no matter the damage done.

Hey, I love all those cute animal videos just like the next guy. But we're paying a price for our nifty technology, and it's getting steeper by the day.