Information
Name: ONE WEIRD TRICK! (YOU WON'T BELIEVE NUMBER 8!!!!)
Author: Mortos
Rating: 305/325
Created at: Mon Jun 19 2017
ONE WEIRD TRICK! (YOU WON'T BELIEVE NUMBER 8!!!!)
Item #: SCP-3299
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures
Major internet advertising agencies are to have their output automatically monitored by I/O-BEHOLDER1 for instances of SCP-3299; any such detected instances are to be deleted using previously installed Foundation trojan software, and attempts to track their source should be made.
Any individuals discovered to have been affected by SCP-3299 are to be detained and treated on a case-by-case basis. The preferred treatment is the administration of amnestics and then release, but more invasive options are available as necessary, including but not limited to corrective surgery or permanent containment in the Anomalous Humanoid Wing of Site-17.
Description
SCP-3299 is a series of cognitohazardous internet advertisements of a style that is colloquially referred to as "clickbait". Individuals who follow the link in the advertisement and read the headline and full body of the associated article are subject to its effect.
When its effect is triggered, the affected individual is subject to one or more mental or physical alterations associated in some way with the headline and contents of the SCP-3299 instance they were exposed to.
These alterations appear to be irreversible; amnestics have had no success in removing mental effects, though in minor cases physical alterations can be masked with surgery.
To date there have been 247 different recorded varieties of SCP-3299. Their content varies significantly but in most cases tends towards the absurd. Refer to Table-3299-1 below for a list of examples. The origin of SCP-3299 is unknown, but attempts to trace its source have resulted in a pattern of inconclusive data matching that of SCP-2964.
Table-3299-1 - Examples of SCP-3299
Addendum 1
On 11/03/2017 a new strain of SCP-3299 began appearing on websites served by popular advertising services. These new instances typically consist of only a headline and an image or video; in instances that contain text, the text is frequently nonsensical strings of random words. Additionally, reading the linked article itself is no longer required to trigger their effects; reading the headline and viewing the associated images/video is sufficient. Table-3299-2 contains examples of this new strain.
I/O-BEHOLDER has been updated to check for potential future strains of SCP-3299 in addition to its usual monitoring activities.
Table-3299-2