Will the real Will Smith please stand up? Please stand up. I repeat.
A case of double mistaken identity involving not one, not two, but three Will Smiths created an uproar on Twitter. The culprit? A lowercase letter "i" and uppercase letter "L," coupled with simultaneous uses of serif and sans serif fonts. Let's get jiggy wit it, and solve this MIB-style.
On Friday, March 23, the Twitter account, @ReaIWillSmith, tweeted out the following:
Via: @ReaIWiIISmith
The thing is, that Twitter account is not the real Will Smith. It has not been verified by Twitter, and the Twitter bio associated with it plainly states that the account is a parody. In case you missed it, a primer on Trayvon Martin and the de-flouring of Kim Kardashian.
That didn't stop this tweet from spreading rapidly on Twitter. What transpired next adds our next Will Smith into the fold. You are keeping count, aren'tt you? We're at two (parody account and the real Will Smith, you know the one behind the hit record, Big Willy Style and actor).
Here is where typography comes into play. What you can't tell from the above tweet is that the Twitter handle - @ReaIWillSmith - has no letter "L"s in it. What appears to be an lowercase "L" is actually an uppercase "i." However, the lack of serif in the font used by Twitter to display usernames (@username) and names (displayed above the username) makes it appear as "Real Will Smith." In act.uality, it is @ReaiWiiiSmith.
This confused people on Twitter who saw this screenshot being sent around:
Via: p.twimg.com
