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# The "£500 pcm bed under the stairs" story is probably just marketing
- URL: https://onemanandhisblog.com/2015/10/add-a-post-title/
- Published: 2015-10-01T09:10:38.000Z
- Updated: 2015-10-01T09:12:36.000Z
- Author: Adam Tinworth
- Tags: fact-checking, social media verification, viral marketing

Want to know why social media verification skills are so important? Well, take a look at this tweet, which has been the basis for dozens of stories in the media this morning:

[https://twitter.com/alex\_lomax/status/649146213242175488](https://twitter.com/alex%5Flomax/status/649146213242175488?ref=onemanandhisblog.com)

Crazy, huh?

But what happens if you start [looking into the few facts you have](http://barker.co.uk/londonbed?ref=onemanandhisblog.com)?

> Why would someone suddenly set their LinkedIn profile private, while simultaneously soliciting newspapers to cover a story from their Twitter account?

And:

> Within 40 miles of Westminster, there is only one ad on the entire site from a private landlord. That ad is the one in question. In other words, across the whole of London, there is a single private landlord ad on the site, and that ad happens to be the one that’s gone viral.

Nothing’s certain, but right now it looks like the the [BBC](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-34404651?ref=onemanandhisblog.com), [Sky](http://news.sky.com/story/1561664/anger-at-bed-under-stairs-to-rent-in-london?ref=onemanandhisblog.com), and many others have fallen for a viral marketing campaign. *The Independent* has [pulled its story](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/single-mattress-under-stairs-offered-for-500-a-month-rent-in-london-home-house-clapham-a6673746.html?ref=onemanandhisblog.com), and *The Telegraph* is acknowedging that [there’s no proof to it](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/renting/11901339/London-flatshares-offer-Harry-Potter-style-rooms-under-the-stairs-for-up-to-900-a-month.html?ref=onemanandhisblog.com).

*Caveat aggregator*…