It seems that every other day, a new story goes viral online. Whether it originated from TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, or the offline real world, once a good story gains traction, there's no stopping it until it crashes or trails off into the distance, far from everyone's attention.
For stories that crash, sometimes the subjects of said story will try to pick up the pieces and make something new out of it, having not learned from their first time around that block and desperately craving another bite of attention once more.
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As the internet has become only more and more prevalent in our daily live, there's been a noticeable increase in people trying really hard to get some online attention. Everyone's chomping at the bit to have the next viral moment, doing ridiculous things on purpose with the goal of internet fame.
For some people, it works out so well that they manage to build a career from it, while others only get their 15 minutes before dropping into obscurity yet again. Either way, it's absolutely wild what some people are willing to do to see their follower number go up.
Like one young man who openly faked an extreme relationship and might just be pulling the same trick a second time.
Meet Giuseppe D'Anna, a 19-year-old Italian boy who rocketed into the spotlight when his proposal to his 76-year-old girlfriend went viral on TikTok. The video currently sports over 20 million views and 7.5 million likes at time of writing, with almost 200k comments' worth of confusion about the situation.
The video's caption read, "La nostra promessa," which translates to "our promise."
The video shows a few photos of the two of them, some photos of the proposal in which his unnamed girlfriend is holding a large bundle of heart-shaped balloons, and the flashy ring D'Anna proposed to her with.
Some text within the video reads, "This is only the beginning of a long relationship," in Italian.
Of course, the comments were filled with digs and debate, most people in utter shock at what they were seeing. Many accused D'Anna of only proposing to this woman for the money, which wouldn't be hard to believe seeing as the song he used in the background is about being a sugar baby, or a young person (often a woman) being given money by an older person (usually a man) in exchange for companionship of some sort.
Some believed this whole scenario was entirely made up, not only accusing the woman of being rich, but accusing her of being D'Anna's real grandmother.
This wasn't the only romantically charged post he made with this woman. There are a number of videos of them on outings, doing Valentine's Day photoshoots, and even a video where D'Anna announces that his now-fiancée is pregnant with his child.
Again, people called him out, stating at the very least that there was no way this could be real as a 76-year-old woman couldn't possibly be pregnant.
Turns out, those doubts were correct.
When speaking to Jam Press, as reported by Mirror, D'Anna explained that this charade began when he uploaded a faux-romantic clip of himself and his grandmother, Milina, as a joke. The clip got way more attention than he intended, so he decided to keep going with it and see how far he could push the story.
It really was all a big prank, and sometime in mid-February of 2023, he stopped posting Milina on his account altogether.
Then, not long after, he began posting himself with a new woman, Virginia La Rocca. There were many videos of the two spending time together, appearing to pursue a romantic relationship and doing so quickly. The two can be seen going shopping, going to parties, and eating lavish meals together.
If you're wondering, La Rocca is 50 years old, leading many to believe that D'Anna is playing the same joke a second time.
Especially since similar story beats from his first prank appear to be repeating themselves. A flashy proposal, a pregnancy announcement, them seeming inseparable, D'Anna playing up the fact that she's a 'sugar mommy' figure, even using the same song from the first proposal announcement video.
What's funny, though, is that if you go to La Rocca's own Instagram account, D'Anna doesn't appear on it at all. There's no news about their engagement or their pregnancy. In fact, the only event video you can somewhat see him in is during La Rocca's 50th birthday party.
So, is this relationship the real deal this time? There's no way to know for sure given D'Anna's history and what happened with his last 'fiancee,' but for all we know, maybe it's real this time around. Maybe despite their major age difference (though less significant than the last) he and La Rocca are truly together and in this for the long haul with a baby on the way.
Or, maybe, just like last time, it's a hoax to get D'Anna's followers up even further.
The internet is a wonderful place that's given so many of us the opportunity to learn things we never would have, experience sights and cultures that would have been inaccessible to us otherwise, and showcase a number of wonderful stories we never could have heard without it.
In order to enjoy the internet to its fullest without succumbing to people vying for attention, just be critical of everything you take in, and don't be afraid to question or ignore something if it doesn't add up!
Curating your own experience is the best way to enjoy all the good things the internet has to offer.
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