For instance, if someone mistakenly reported online that you or I had passed on to our great reward, a few folks (like our spouses and mothers) might be sad. But it likely wouldn't become a viral rumor that required extreme social networking measures to refute.

However, that's not the case if your name is Jon Bon Jovi.

On Dec.19, the website dailynewbloginternational.wordpress.com reported, "Rockstar Jon Bon Jovi (John Francis Bongiovi, Jr) was pronounced dead today after paramedics found him in a coma at his Empress Hotel, city and law enforcement of Asbury Park, NJ sources told The Times after World Christmas Tour concert on The Bamboozle Festival, North Beach Asbury Park."

Sounds pretty official, with lots of verifiable details.

Or not, as it turns out.

A day later, Bon Jovi posted a photo of himself with the message, "'Heaven looks a lot like New Jersey' -jbj" as well as the reassurance, "Rest assured that Jon is alive and well! This photo was just taken."

Bon Jovi joins celebrities such as Tom Hanks and Jeff Goldblum—not to mention Mark Twain, of course—who've been forced to announce, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."

The next time the 49-year-old singer heads out to sing in concert, perhaps he should enunciate the "or alive" part of "Wanted Dead or Alive" a bit more clearly, it seems. Ditto "Living on a Prayer."

Until then, this story proves a point we'd all do well to keep in mind: Not everything you read on the Internet is actually real.