As we all know, the internet is a blessing to those who have a pathological need for attention. The wide array of communication platforms and unfathomably large potential audience has compelled large numbers of these attention-seekers to pioneer new ways to claw closer to the limelight. However, many still rely on tried and true methods in their histrionics, methods that are sometimes even older than the internet itself. One such method is 'factitious disorder', known better by the name of its variant Munchausen Syndrome.

'Munchausen Syndrome' is a psychological condition where people feign illness, be it physical or psychological, in order to gain attention, sympathy, and care from others. Those afflicted are known to fake illnesses or greatly exaggerate existing health conditions, make frequent hospital visits for the faked conditions, tell outrageous and unrealistic stories about their healthcare background, and maintain a fixation on their feigned health conditions to the point where the suffering is the focal point of their identity and topics of conversation. With the advent of online communication, people across the internet quickly noticed that Munchausen's was infecting their communities as members were revealed to have faked outlandish medical histories, tales of violence and abuse, hospital visits, and even their own deaths. By 2000, the phenomenon became recognizable enough that the term 'Munchausen by Internet' was coined, and its own distinct set of behavioral patterns was described.

The explosion of social media ensured that younger attention-seekers never had to experience the time where those with Munchausen's had only the small forums and online support groups they posted in to give them what they so desired; now they had access to platforms with a potentially boundless audience who would shower them with sympathy, praise, and oftentimes gifts. To the dismay of people who are actually sick, they quickly took up hashtags reserved for those with chronic illnesses (primarily hashtags catering to illnesses that are commonly faked, e.g. #spoonie, #invisibleillness) in order to blog/brag about their hospital visits, post pictures of pills, and say any manner of outrageous things to garner attention.

Most people who use social media to express their Munchausen's never truly have their lies revealed beyond their viewers' personal skepticism; after all, how many people are willing to risk telling somebody with a horrible illness that they're making it up? Because of this hesitance, only few cases of Munchausen's by Internet are unraveled, and only after a bounty of evidence has been gathered. Cases where there is this much evidence against the liar tend to be so outlandish that they are outed and shamed in a spectacular way. One such case was so particularly diabolical that it hit major news organizations (and gossip sites), including the BBC.

Cara Goodman maintained a tumblr blog where she claimed to suffer from cancer, as well as anorexia, deafness, and HIV/AIDS from being raped and abused. She quickly became online friends with people in tumblr's illness community and beyond, gaining over a thousand followers and an outpouring of gifts and affection. She seemed to be the real deal; there were numerous pictures of her with a shaved head, prescription bottles, and medical equipment. Friends of Cara paid to fly her out to meet them, irl friends confirmed that she was sick, and she had a picture with herself and her mom in what looks to be a hospital bed. She continued to maintain her tumblr and friendships for four years through such alleged hardships as an emergency liver transplant, blogging about life with severe illness and even calling out fake cancer bloggers herself.

It all fell apart when Cara's best friend decided to put the pieces together about the things that seemed 'off' about her story over the years, then hijacked Cara's blogging account to write a long-winded tell-all. Cara had never been to the hospital, didn't have cancer, AIDS, or surgery, was never abused or raped, and wasn't genderqueer to boot (she used dumb pronouns). She had been actively shaving her head and eyebrows and renting medical equipment for four years, and she'd even gotten her mother involved. Having spent four years sacrificing herself to support Cara, even going so far as to drop out of classes to devote more time to her care, the friend was rightfully devastated. Many others expressed their anger and hurt, including an actual cancer patient who had given her a gift. A compilation blog was set up to document the answers that various friends of Cara gave to questions about the situation, revealing how deep her pit of lies was.

Cara deleted her social media and disappeared into thin air, but shortly afterwards, a British woman named Mollie Cunningham appeared on tumblr to document her difficult pregnancy and the eventual birth of her deaf baby. Because she posted pictures of her face and tried to befriend a few of the same people she'd known as a cancer/anorexia/HIV/liver failure/deafness patient, people quickly caught on to the fact that Mollie was Cara, and Cara disappeared once more.

Eventually Cara came forward to start a new blog, where she issued an apology and confession to the sins she'd committed while pretending to be a cancer patient, and she admitted that she had been diagnosed with HPD, BPD, and facticious disorder and hinted that she may be receiving therapy. However, the blog went inactive as quickly as it'd started, and Cara finally vanished for good.

While it's been years since Cara has been online as we know it, people who suffer from Munchausen by Internet seldom quit cold turkey. The thirst for attention is too strong, and the attention to effort ratio in pretending to be a chronic illness patient or a victim of trauma is just too high to resist. People with Munchausen's often float from account to account, or from community to community, changing their identity and sob story with each new digital incarnation. Perhaps Cara has gotten the help she needs and learned to control her attention-seeking behavior, but it's likely that she's still out there, pretending to be an epilepsy patient or a #spoonie or someone with DID.