Dealing with their claims, while time-consuming, is at least something that I'm able to do. Explaining why they do as they do, think as they think? I'm at a loss.

I cannot do anything other than to agree with you here. You, Astrogeek and the others have really been amazing when it comes to debunking all kinds of vivid claims. I have to say that someone that can convince me that I'm wrong truly is good at this, and knows what he/she talks about. Just the fact that you adress all claims made by various groups of people here, and take your time to research all the different subjects is actually nothin short of fantastic.

This has been especially true over the last four or five years, since mediums like video sharing and social networking have become evermore popular.

This is what I think is the single most important factor as of why this doomsday has gained such momentum. Never before in history has people been able to share information instantaneously with people from around the world. So, I don't think that there are more evidence of an impending doomsday this time than before. But, thanks to internet people (like myself) that draw their own conclusion, and find their own significance in occuring events, linking them all to doomsday, is able to find/create information that supports their beliefs. That in turn just adds water to the mill, and suddenly they got more than enough ammo to support their mostly crazy ideas, so it kind of turns out to be an intricate variant of the blind leading the blind. You can copy/paste from anything and make up your own doomsday, and spread it to as many as you like and spread it to an infinite amount of people

If 'they' don't want you to know about their underground seed vaults, 'they' should probably not have a website for it. If 'they' don't want you to know what's going on with the sun, 'they' should probably not update daily imagery of the sun.

I guess 'they' must not care about what some of these people have to say, for it is of course nonsense.

Regarding popularity, I'd say the amount of stuff is steady, the impact it has is perhaps not so much, bar the odd video here and there from a proponent with a few subscribers (jcattera getting 6k views for saying something is Nibiru, me getting less than 200 for offering proof it's not. Ridiculous. Am I bitter? Hells yeah. But enough of that, it's not all about viewcounts… honest.)

From what I've seen though, there's nothing really new coming through, it's the same old claims over and over, or the same mistakes (how many people can't identify Venus these days?), and some news articles I'd expect someone to have made a fuss about seemingly haven't come forward.

My tip for the future in that case is WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer). It finished a complete scan of the sky last week, could do as much as half of it again by the time it runs out of coolant, and as expected it's found quite a few brown dwarf candidates. Only their distances are as yet unknown, so we'll find out if the Nemesis hypothesis has anything going for it. And then we'll find out if anybody bothered to actually read beyond the headline "Brown dwarves found" or something…

Control those and you can control the world

That more or less goes for every government that has ever existed as well, and it's so true.

I've been wondering about the psychological aspect of all this, for both the doomsayers and the people who are duped by them. This has been especially true over the last four or five years, since mediums like video sharing and social networking have become evermore popular. It's during this time period that I've been actively engaging all types of junk proponents, from young-earth creationists to conspiracy theorists to pseudo-scientists like our Nibiru-tracking friends on YouTube. Dealing with their claims, while time-consuming, is at least something that I'm able to do. Explaining why they do as they do, think as they think? I'm at a loss.

And is it just me or do this 2012 hype seem to fade a little in popularity as of latelly?

I haven't noticed a decrease, but then I haven't really been keeping track, and I actively seek out the b.s. sometimes. What I see is by no means an indicator of popularity level.

Our best day ever was December 14th, 2009 with nearly 4000 hits, but that was a very unusual day.

I can send the google analytics pdf out to interested parties.

And is it just me or do this 2012 hype seem to fade a little in popularity as of lately? I think that it was worse the months after the horrible 2012 movie, and now at least some seem to look past the hype, or what do you think?

A friend here in Chiapas, Mexico who has a bookstore that caters to backpacker tourists (who tend to buy and exchange lots of paperbacks) says the demand for 2012 books is 'way down in the last month or so.

Uhm, sorry that this became a little longer than I expected, but… I think that it's important to remember that those who cry wolf almost unambiguously are the ones that shouldn't be trusted or even listened to.

And is it just me or do this 2012 hype seem to fade a little in popularity as of latelly? I think that it was worse the months after the horrible 2012 movie, and now at least some seem to look past the hype, or what do you think?

For 2012 to be a made up hoax, an International "go and buy things to survive" just sounds to me like people are ignoring or scared of the possible global chaos.

The issue we have with the 2012 hoax (and yes, it is a hoax) is that claims are made which are false, and these false claims are used to sell products and services.

The earth like many things are not supposed to stay the way there created, Like many "things" on the planet and including earth, there is subject to change.

Yes.

Now, I'm not saying the world will go "Poof" Gone or being hit by a giant planet and blow up, what i am saying is to not fool people into thinking that nothing will happen, and not prepare for anything.

We do not tell people that "nothing" will happen. We tell people that 2012 is not going to be a significant year. I expect that 2012 will have its share of natural and man-made disasters, just like 2011 and 2013.

Saying its a hoax to ease ones mind is a simple Tactic to control chaos or depressed thinking.

Our claim that it is a hoax is based on documented evidence.

Saying things like its possible the North and South pole will switch axis and climate change will happen, would be a better "warning" to people then saying "The end of the world is a hoax."

Well, there you have it. You think that a pole shift can occur. I say that a magnetic pole shift is inevitable, but a long way off (thousands of years), and not something that is going to be a global disaster. I say that a shift in the axis of the magnitude claimed by the hoaxers is impossible, short of a planetary collision. If that were to happen, which way the earth was spinning would be the least of our worries.

Now it has been scientifically proven that every 25,000 yrs these earthly things happen.

Please support that statement.

Climate change happens

"Is happening", yes.

Well, we agree with that.

Yes I agree some t.v shows are showing many different ways the earth undergo a "Chaos" state, as well i also agree some "movies" are scaring the heck out of people but we have to think of life like this. "If there is a will, there is a way." So with this being said, Im sure this post will be hated on. Im just stating a common sense perspective and everyone else should think out side of the box as well.

I don't "hate on" anybody, with the exception of those people who seek to profit by actively promoting fear.

P.S. Hypothetical speaking this is a hoax, then all the "International Joksters" pretty much induced this world to be in chaos. Which only means There will be chaos no matter what, its inevitable.

I disagree. I do not think that chaos is inevitable. In fact, I expect most of the world to laugh at the 2012 rumors and move on.

We are specifically concerned about vulnerable populations, such as children, who are at this moment living in terror because they believe that 2012 is real.

The appropriate way saying this whole "2012" is to Have faith and hope all well ends well.

No, I disagree. The appropriate way of saying this is that the 2012 doomsday is a money-making hoax, a scam for dollars, and should be dismissed as such. On the other hand, people should always prepare for disaster, and be able to take care of themselves for 72 hours after a natural disaster strikes.

P.S. Hypothetical speaking this is a hoax, then all the "International Joksters" pretty much induced this world to be in chaos. Which only means There will be chaos no matter what, its inevitable. The appropriate way saying this whole "2012" is to Have faith and hope all well ends well.

Most of us that have spent time trying to debunk the 2012 claims would like to just simplify the argument into "us smarties" and "those dummies". Not only is this unproductive, but it simply isn't true. While the ORIGINATORS of the hoax do tend to push the envelope of "human normal", as they include psychedelic drug abusers and mental cases of a startling variety of types, there are many just plain average people that either believe the 2012 claims or have enough doubt to lend them some credence.

The "guy" you work with doesn't have to be a "whack job". I would guess (although I admit, I am out of my depth trying to guess at human psychology), that he may be more suggestible than average. If that is the case, then reading "4 bookshelves full of books" about 2012 will eventually make someone start to wonder.

My personal opinion is that as we near 2012 there will be LESS hysteria. More and more, the rational voices will be heard and unless there is a plethora of coat-tails 2012 movies, the 12-fanatics will be exposed for the crazy or greedy people we know they are.

I agree with Hoax; I think that you should save your money.

There's no concrete evidence at all to support any kind of catastrophic catalysm in the near future especially not in the year 2012.

I'm an amateur astronomer. I've had the privilege of working with some NASA scientists and other professional astronomers on some of their research projects through the auspices of our local astronomy club. I've met several, and talked to many via the internet. I can tell you that the opinion among them about 2012 is unanimous: It's a hoax.

I can't tell you what your friend is scared of, because I'm convinced that there's no threat on that specific date.

I can tell you that if an astronomer found something heading our way, it would not be kept secret.

I can also tell you that there are hundreds of thousands of amateur astronomers around the world, and many of them have equipment that rivals that of universities. "Comet hunting" is a full-contact sport in some amateur astronomy circles. With all those eyeballs on the sky, there is nowhere for an inbound object to hide.

Nowadays, we routinely find, track, and publish about objects as small as a few meters. In this sense, no news is good news. There's no word of an object out there, and anything big enough to be a problem would most likely have been spotted already.

It is tempting to fall for the argument that a lot of people believe something, therefore it must be true. However, I'll remind you that "a lot of people" can be wrong as well. "A lot of people" in the infant U.S.A. thought slavery was OK. "A lot of people" in the 1920s and 30s thought that
'the white race" was genetically superior to all others. "A lot of people" thought that malaria was caused by "bad air" (and invented air-conditioning as a result). "A lot of people" in Europe and New England thought that witches were responsible for all kinds of bad things, and killed hundreds or thousands of women in the 17th century.

Save your money.

Any thoughts?

P.s. This is a great site!!!