Fortunately, from the streets of Hunters Point to the soaring towers of Pacific Heights, San Francisco residents are learning that the news is false.

It had, however, become a trending topic on Twitter, with the message "R.I.P. Rowan Atkinson."

This message came just one day after R.I.P. Facebook had lit up the message boards on social media.

So how did the rumor start?

It was Twitter user, Michael Robert Meras of the Philippines who had posted a message on Twitter that read, "RIP Rowan Atkinson".

He regretted it later, however, when he realized people took him seriously.
He wrote: "Shutting down now. Sorry guys, RIP Rowan Atkinson was just a joke. Sorry for that matter, I never thought it would be that viral. We<3MrBean."

The <3 sign is that of a heart and the message means "We love you Mr. Bean."

Twitter and top news stories in San Francisco and around the country then said that Rowan Atkinson was NOT dead.

But the damage had already been done and the rumor had gone viral.

Some users of social media then tried to say that R.I.P. just meant "Really Inspiring Person."

San Francisco resident, James Cowell, says, "I folllow news on Twitter all the time and if someone writes R.I.P. it should mean what it has always meant: Rest In Peace. Nobody should try now to say it means something else. It doesn't. There are other ways of saying a person is great, like V.I.P - Very Important Person or Very Inspiring Person. The use of R.I.P. for that is very wrong."

It's true that many people were fooled and even Wikipedia was taken in by the death hoax. It went so far as to update the actor's death as 26 February 2012. It later deleted the entry.

Some Rowan Atkinson fans have retorted by tweeting: "Mr. Bean Is Immortal."

One funny top news tweet says: "R.I.P Rowan Atkinson. Twitter kills more people than Hitler."


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