Elusive Meme Plagues Interwebs

A mysterious hashtag has been flooding every corner of electronic media, causing massive disruption to servers and private accounts.

"We have all our best people working on Operation SOCHI," says Robert Twitter, founder of the internet. "We're confident that we'll soon discover the source of this strange meme, and quickly undo the damage it has caused."

In recent weeks, the SOCHI incident has grown out of control. Television channels have been forced to broadcast near-constant coverage of many bizarre events.

"It's absolutely baffling," says Jane Network, President of Television. "Our best analysts are at a loss to explain why anyone would ride a tiny sled down icy hills at skull-shattering speeds. Not only that, but we've witnessed men and women in flamboyant spandex costumes flailing wildly about in ice-covered arenas. We suspect some sort of astrological influence."

Sixty-star general Jack Warguy has a different opinion.

"It's obviously a Ruskie plot," snarls America's most highly-decorated officer. "CIA analysts have uncovered definitive proof that SOCHI -- actually 'Soviet Operations of Crazily High Importance' -- is a computer-generated simulation meant to distract from an impending Russian invasion! You really think anyone would be crazy enough to voluntarily go flying off a giant snow-hill with some two-by-fours strapped to their boots? Be sensible!"

Forum-users around the internet have been contributing to the attempted unraveling of the SOCHI puzzle without success.

"We're getting close," writes xXLaser_Dragoon_78Xx. "For once, the military is on the right track. 'SOCHI' is definitely an acronym, but we can't decide between 'Sympathetic Otherworldly Creatures of Hairy Identity' or 'Somebody's Obnoxious Concept of a Hungarian Ibis'."

Even as the transmission is investigated, some parents are growing desperate.

"SOCHI is wreaking havoc on my impressionable children!" wails Marie Meddler, professional gossip and mother of twenty-six. "Just yesterday, I went outside to find eleven of my daughters stuck on the roof! They had built a ramp out of snow and ridden a sled down the hill at ninety miles an hour! This has to stop!"

Until the SOCHI puzzle is solved, internet and television will likely continue to show these strange images. While authorities are encouraging caution, we at the Daily Downfall will be outside. This 'snowboarding' thing looks totally rad.