Poor Peter. Reid that is.
A great many people are fully aware that Wikipedia, although a very helpful and powerful resource, is also consumed with a pinch of salt. The self-curated repository may be impressively accurate and comprehensive considering its editable nature, but there is definitely room for short-term shenanigans before they are identified and corrected.
On Sunday, former Everton and England star Peter Reid, now a popular pundit, took a rogue update as fact, and announced to his 140,000 Twitter followers that comedian and (some would say) natural treasure Peter Kay had passed away – because he saw it on Twitter. An easy mistake to make to the uninitiated.
Poor Reidy was understandably gutted, using a screenshot and adding: ‘Oh no can’t believe this. RIP’
https://twitter.com/reid6peter/status/960263728070578176
In fact, it was namesake Sporting Chance rehab clinic co-founder Peter Kay who sadly died in 2013. Thankfully a throng of followers corrected him and explained that it was trolls up to no good and conflating the two…
I'm not sure that's genuine
— Andrew Kirby😷 🍥🚴♂️⚽️⛑️ (@AK4INSURANCE) February 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/JerIsher/status/960291281711845376
Delete it quickly as fake news
— Michael Fogarty (@Tynan4) February 4, 2018
No Peter! Don’t believe Wikipedia
— 🤙🏼 (@L91EFC) February 4, 2018
Not him Reidy 🙈
— 𝗣𝗘𝗗 🇪🇺 (@PED7) February 4, 2018
It's not Peter Kay the comedian. It is a sporting gentleman who sadly has passed away.
— Caroline Dinnage (@CDinnage) February 4, 2018
Reid went on to correct his tweet (sort of), by posting:
Please god it’s not. https://t.co/gjqwuiJZas
— Peter Reid 💙 (@reid6peter) February 4, 2018
It’s not Peter.
