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There's been quite a lot of hubbub surrounding Twitter. Not only has everyone been talking (or tweeting) about it, but the recently birthed social-media phenom is already spreading false rumors like a 13-year-old. With the growing popularity of the "retweet" (where one user simply attaches a "RT" or "retweet" to another person's tweet) comes the ongoing chains of unsubstantiated hearsay.

While not all things passed along the Telephone game that is Twitter are false (it did provide us with the first image of the Hudson River plane landing), it's not difficult to start a juicy (yet untrue) piece of gossip and gain not only major retweetage, but get your info up on the almighty list of Trending Topics. That's when mayhem throughout the virtual world ensues.

To set things straight, we're putting together a clear-cut list of the fakest and most viral of rumors that have spread through the wires of Twitter. Let this be a lesson to those who use Twitter, young and old: Be careful what you tweet. Fake news stories that went viral on Twitter, after the jump.

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RIP, Patrick Swayze (JK, he's still alive)

Any claims that a beloved public figure has passed provoke an immediate influx of personal responses from tweeters sending their regards, RIPs and remembrances. While this might be a nice outpouring when the person has actually passed (like Dom Deluise, who hit Trending Topics after fans across the globe tweeted their sadness), it gets out of hand when unsubstantiated death rumors hit the hashtag-happy Web.

The most recent victim of premature death rumors is actor Patrick Swayze, who has been battling pancreatic cancer and whose name appeared in Trending Topics after a KISS-FM radio station reportedly sent out a tweet to 309 followers that the actor had passed away. Soon, everyone (even celebs including @KirstieAlley) were retweeting condolences, along with confusions on the validity of the tweet. The only way to stop the untrue tweet? Swayze's publicist had to release a statement saying, "Patrick is alive, well and is enjoying his life, and he continues to respond to treatment," thus ending the hysteria.

Subway's Jared Killed by Same Twitter Rumor Mill

Swayze's not the only one to get prematurely buried by the Twitter machine. Last year, Subway's Jared was also killed by Twitter when a fraudulent remembrance site -- www.jaredremembered.com -- was set up and sent Twitterers into a flurry of retweets claiming he was dead. The biggest shockwave was sent out by Digg founder Kevin Rose to his 46,000 followers (at the time) containing the site and words of condolence. Thousands of retweets later, after realizing his folly, Rose sent out a tweet reading: "A friend sent me the link, and it just seemed too obscure to not be true," Rose told us in an e-mail. "My fault." However, the damage was already done and left lots of people thinking the sandwich-hocking Jared was no longer.

Completely Unfunny: A Fake Amber Alert Spreads

Just like Facebook, there are quite a few ways that Twitter could be useful in solving crime. The ability to transmit information quickly can be key -- That is, unless the information is wrong and then you've got a serious problem.

That's what's happened when a fake Amber Alert hit the Twitter airwaves and immediately hit the retweet circuit -- making its way all the way from Salt Lake City to Oklahoma. It changed as it went along, but essentially read: "A 7-yr.-old girl was taken by a man driving a newer silver truck. The license plate reads 72B381 please please pass on." Unfortunately for the poor soul driving the silver truck with 72B381 plates, the Alert was a fake, and by the time authorities debunked it, it was way too late. If you're interested in getting real Amber Alerts via twitter, check out this guy.

Prop 8 Overturned!!! Oh, wait: It wasn't.

Finding out a celebrity you thought was dead is actually alive is pretty good news. But finding out controversial Proposition 8 (the amendment banning gay marriage in California) actually wasn't overturned, after a flurry of celebratory tweets told you it was? Not good news.

This is actually what happened when a L.A. Times article from May 16, 2008, which reported Prop 8 had been overturned (this was before California voters amended the state's constitution to re-ban gay marriage) was misread as being current and subsequently retweeted into infinity, convincing thousands that gay marriage was now legal in California.

Swine Flu Mutation Creates Zombies (But Only Ones Who Twitter)

Finally, there's nothing like a 140-character-limited, naturally rumor-producing service to help spread inaccurate information about a disease outbreak.

When the news about swine flu broke and people across the country were suddenly wearing masks and furiously washing hands, Twitter became a central source of late-breaking flu updates. That's why it was so easy for a fake BBC story about a mutant zombie strain of the flu to retweet itself over 800 times. And while many of those tweets were tongue-in-cheek, not everyone was in on the joke and it successfully convinced quite a few tweeters that a new form of the Swine Flu was indeed creating zombies.

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