It should go without saying that if you want to stay out of trouble and keep a good reputation, don't get sloshed, and don't multiply this initial stupidity to the 10th power by boasting about it online.

All too often, this sort of behavior starts a frenzy of blog posts and Facebook messages warning you "Don't friend your boss!" when the lesson should really be "Don't do anything stupid, and don't post it online."

Kyle Doyle set off such a storm and started a chain letter that may or may not be a hoax all at the same time.

How did he manage this?

The story was that Doyle got trashed (drunk) and then faking a sickie, bragged about it on his Facebook status, and got caught by the boss. Sickie Faker Busted on Facebook

Then there came the inevitable flood of posts online warning about the "dangers" of friending the boss.. The story soon reached international notoriety.

Soon, sites began claiming Doyle's story was a hoax and he had been set up. Australian news article second news article

By this time, Doyle had Reached Chain Letter Infamy.

a Wordpress blog that unfortunately makes use of that trollish term "epic fail"

So how did Kyle Doyle manage to become the main character in a chain letter?Ryan and Bell explain at this link: Busted yFacebook Kyle Doyle and the Sickie

Within a few days, an article appeared to confirm that the story of Kyle Doyle was neither true nor a set-up.

There is a very sadly interesting story about a fake Kyle Doyle at this link, but be on the watch for the occasional colorful word.

There was a group on Facebook called "Kyle Doyle is a Dumb Arse" and it seems to have vanished.

On November 1, 2008, a friend of a friend of Doyle's sent a Facebook email, claiming the story was not a hoax.

But - it is definitely in the interests of some, to keep as many people believing as possible that the story is not a hoax...