[imagesource: Andrew Marino/Vox Media]

When Facebook introduced the ‘I’m interested’ response to event invites, I felt like it had been specifically designed for Capetonians.

Yes, I’m sure you’re going to do that catch-up drink with your friend any day now, but how many of the events you’re clicking ‘I’m interested’ to are you actually attending?

Now, imagine that magnified on a scale many, many times over, and you get ‘Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All Of Us’, a Facebook joke that very quickly grew legs around the world.

The event spawned eventually rebranded as ‘Official Alienstock Tour‘, but here are the basics via VICE:

The Internet erupted in laughter and curiosity when Matty Roberts created his Storm Area 51 Facebook event. The event went on to become a viral meme.

Harnessing the sensational momentum, the storming event was transformed into a music festival that was set to take place in the rural town of Rachel, Nevada.

Power struggles behind the scenes, however, created chaos and confusion for both the media and those who wanted to attend.

VICE producers Zeke Spector and Dan Zabludovsky documented their process of trying to gain access to the event and their attempt to make sense of how an Internet entity can affect people in the real world.

I think you’re going a little far if you say the meme ‘almost destroyed a town’, but it’s still an interesting look at what, at one stage, looked like it could turn into the next Fyre Festival:

[source:vice]