The new fad takes after the long established meme tradition #Tebowing, which takes cue from the then-Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, in which people post pictures of themselves on one knee in a "praying" posture. The new meme is also similar to #Eastwooding, in which you pose next to an empty chair like Eastwood at the 2012 Republican National Convention.
It appears from the
Deadspin story that an acquaintance created a fake social media girlfriend for Te'o and then arranged for her to die.
However, Te’o claims that he was "catfished," a reference to the MTV reality show "Catfish," in which people with online relationships get to meet with the help of MTV. He said he thought the woman he was talking to on Internet was a real woman named Lennay Kekua. His story has met with widespread skepticism. Timothy Burke who co-authored the
Deadspin article that broke the story told CNN that "Te'o's story that he is completely innocent in this does not really ring true to us."
According to
Deadspin, it appears that "Te'o initially fell for a hoax, but carried on with it for the publicity even after he discovered the truth."
But regardless of whether Te'o was in on the hoax, Teoing has gone viral on Twitter and other social media. Teoing is much like Tebowing except you pose for a photo with an invisible girlfriend, reports
Social Daily News.
Photos have started popping up online, on Instagram and Twitter in which people pretend to be putting their arms around, cuddling, cradling or hugging an invisible girlfriend with the hashtag #Teoing.
Here are some examples of people Teoing on
BuzzFeed.
