On January 17 2020, an Imgur post featured a screenshot of a tweet by @andrehenry quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Capitalism, asserting that such a system did not “permit an even flow of resources”: “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wa
Publication: viral content
Truth or Fiction?→ Martin Luther King Jr., Anne Frank, and Barbara Walters Are the Same Age?
In December 2019 (and periodically since), a Facebook post claimed that that Anne Frank, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barbara Walters would all be the same age if everyone was alive today: An additional status update stated the claim was the poster&
Truth or Fiction?→ Alan Dershowitz’s Watergate Trial Gripe About ‘Blacks and Liberals’ Resurfaces Online
A November 1974 remark from attorney Alan Dershowitz found new visibility in January 2020 after it was highlighted by the chief of staff for Virginia state Sen. Dave Marsden, not long after the Trump administration announced that Dershowitz would be j
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Medical Journal List ‘The Notorious H.R.T.’ as a Nickname for Hormone Replacement Therapy?
An image that purports to show a screengrab from a medical journal was featured on a tweet that gained traction on January 15 2020. The tweet contains a capture of this citation: It says: Hormone replacement therapy has many nicknames among transfe
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Downy in Toilet’ Housekeeping Hack
On January 14 2020, a Facebook post appeared advising readers to pour a cup of laundry detergent of fabric softener like Downy into their toilet tank, a supposed housecleaning “hack”: Alongside a photograph of a person in yellow glove
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Prince Philip is Dead’; Rumor Spreads Like Wildfire
On January 17 2020, rumors Queen Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip had died began sweeping Twitter. Commonly, users reported hearing the rumor of Philip’s purported death at work or “on the street”: Work rumour is that P
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘My Favorite Catholic Lore’ Holy Water Facts Meme
On January 15 2020, a Tumblr screenshot featuring purported facts about holy water (“my favorite Catholic lore”) was shared to Imgur with the title “How to get +1 holy damage”: A multi-party Tumblr exchange began with claims f
Truth or Fiction?→ How a Banking Meme Ties Into a Debate Over Calendar Denominations
A long-running debate off and on social media somehow managed to loop a type of beer into a discussion around how to denote the historical timeline in January 2020: The meme, which has spread around Twitter and Facebook, shows a check made out to
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Study Find U.S. Healthcare Costs More Than Four Times as Much as Canadian Single-Payer?
On January 8 2020, MSN.com aggregated a Los Angeles Times article, which reported that Americans pay four times as much per capita for health care than Canadians did under their country’s single-payer healthcare program: In the United States, a
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Blue Buffalo Dental Bones Hemorrhagic Gastritis’ Facebook Warning
On January 5 2020, Facebook user Nikki McDonald shared the following post about the brand Blue Buffalo’s Dental Bones product, reporting that her dog Dallas was gravely injured and nearly killed after she gave him the product: In under a week
Truth or Fiction?→ Were an Army Veteran’s Prosthetic Legs ‘Repossessed’ After a VA and Medicare Dispute?
On January 9 2020, an article about Army veteran Jerry Holliman and the repossession of his prosthetic legs after a payment dispute between the VA and Medicare was shared to Reddit’s r/nottheonion, a subreddit for news stories odd enough to soun
Truth or Fiction?→ Does Using Antidepressants Disqualify You from a Military Draft?
After a January 3 2020 United States-led strike killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Suleimani in Baghdad, Iraq, speculation flew about impending war, eventually turning into rumors about an American military draft. On the day Suleimani was killed, news o
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Say NO to Piercing Guns’ Viral Facebook Post
On December 29 2019, Facebook user Stephanie Lipscy shared the following post beginning with “say NO to piercing guns,” alongside an illustration of an ear being pierced: Lipscy said that the use of ear piercing guns caused “a blun
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Don’t Abbreviate 2020’ Warning
Beginning in early 2020, many people on social media have likely encountered a “legal warning” advising they not abbreviate the date in a month/day/year (or day/month/year) format in 2020, thanks to the purported ability of all and sundry
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Missing’ Hiker Emoji Mandela Effect
Among memories considered part of the “Mandela effect” — a term for a shared false memory that stems from a collective, completely false understanding that Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s — is a mass recollection of a sinc
Truth or Fiction?→ Aboriginal Flag on the Right, Australia Burning on the Left
On January 2 2019, Facebook user Benita Tahuri shared the following two images and a post — on the left, the Australian Aboriginal flag, and on the right, a photograph of the “sun and skyscape … as a consequence of the fires”:
Truth or Fiction?→ Best Buy ‘Y2K’ Sticker
If you were using social media on December 31 2019, chances are a Best Buy “Y2K warning” sticker crossed one of your feeds — it looked something like this: Although some versions were digital renderings, others like the one above showed
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘I Did Not Take This Photo and I Don’t Know Who Did’ Australian Community Firefighters Image
In the midst of late December 2019 and early January 2020 fires raging across the Australian continent, the following screenshot showing exhausted, soot-blackened firefighters circulated on Facebook: The photograph, which was apparently captured fr
Truth or Fiction?→ Are Drive-Thru Convenience Stores Only Located in Ohio?
A Facebook user’s popular post in November 2019 expressed surprise over the existence of drive-thru convenience stores, but their popularity and their existence itself date back decades. The post (which has been spread more than 10,000 times on
Truth or Fiction?→ Was Paul Rudd the Same Age as Wilford Brimley in ‘Cocoon’ as of December 2019?
On December 30 2019, the Twitter account @BrimleyLine tweeted that actor Paul Rudd was, as of that date, 18,530 days old — exactly as old as actor Wilford Brimley when he starred in the film Cocoon: Born April 6, 1969, actor Paul Rudd ('Cluel
Truth or Fiction?→ Aldi ‘Free Food on Christmas Eve’ Facebook Post
A December 12 2019 MSN.com post with the headline “Aldi issues plea for vulnerable people to come and collect free food on Christmas Eve” was making the Facebook rounds as Christmas Eve 2019 approached, with innumerable shares appearing in
Truth or Fiction?→ Is This a Photograph of the Chernobyl ‘Elephant’s Foot’?
Even before a show based on the Chernobyl disaster renewed interest both on and off social media, one of the most vivid online reminders of the April 1986 nuclear reactor meltdown continued to circulate online. A Facebook post that was shared more tha
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Do You Know What’s Deplorable? Being Impeached’ Tweet
On December 18 2019, United States President Donald Trump was impeached on two counts by the House of Representatives; that night and the following day, screenshots and quotations of a tweet purportedly from his son Donald Trump Jr. to then-presidenti
Truth or Fiction?→ Downward Tilting Toilet
On December 2019, Twitter and Facebook were flush with posts about a downward tilted toilet — purportedly designed to be unbearable to sit upon for more than five minutes — installed by employers to discourage lengthy bathroom breaks: BREAKI
Truth or Fiction?→ Ahoy, Matey: Book Excerpt Fuels Surge of Interest in Same-Sex Pirate Partnerships
In December 2019, a graphic circulated online that questioned the dominant narrative on (and perhaps had some readers rethinking their views about) the pirate culture of the 17th century. A photograph, taken from the 2019 book The Queeriodic Table:
Truth or Fiction?→ NYT, 1932: ‘German Centrists’ Believe Nazis Allowed to Participate Will Become More Moderate?
In an ongoing online debate over whether centrists enable fascists, a December 16 2019 tweet purportedly showed an authentic New York Times article from 1932, which reported that “German centrists” believed that Nazis would become “
Truth or Fiction?→ Did the U.S. Department of Defense Display an Image of a Nazi on the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge?
On December 16 2019, social media accounts affiliated with the United States military put up the following image with a post attached to it commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge: The photograph showed a Nazi war criminal, SS-S
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Michael Bloomberg Supporters Invent Their Own ‘Dance’?
On December 12, 2019, Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg’s campaign got viral attention online — though probably not in a way they anticipated, thanks to comedians Nick Ciarelli and Brad Evans. “Look out #TeamPete becaus
Truth or Fiction?→ Fresh Snow Absorbs Sound
On December 12 2019, the Facebook page “Weird Facts” shared the following meme about how fresh snow “absorbs” sound: Underneath an image of a snowy street, text read: Fresh snow absorbs sound, lowering ambient noise
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Velocity of Money’ Tumblr Post
On December 10 2019, the Facebook page “The Other 98%” shared a Tumblr screenshot of a discussion of a concept described as the “velocity of money”: In it, the first of two comments claimed that a unit of $10 as handled by
Truth or Fiction?→ President Donald Trump’s 32 Percent Approval Rating per CBS Poll vs. ‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop’ at 33 Percent per Rotten Tomatoes?
On December 8 2019, the Facebook page “Dadmin” shared a photograph of a woman holding a protest sign, purportedly comparing United States President Donald Trump’s approval rate (32 percent) with that of the film Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Truth or Fiction?→ Has ICE Refused Even Donated Flu Shot Vaccines for Detainees?
On December 5 2019, Twitter lit up with rumors and tweets that Immigration and Customs Enforcement refused to offer “even donated flu shots” for detainees in its custody: ICE has refused even donated flu shots. This is exactly how the
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Uber Receive 235 Reports of Rape and 5,981 Reports of Sexual Abuse?
On December 8 2019, the Facebook page “Feminists United” shared a screenshot of the following tweet about 235 reports of rape purportedly received by Uber in a year: For every man that doesn't understand why women are fed up. Last
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a ‘Drunk Crop Duster’ Pilot Dump 4 Tons of Manure over Kansas?
In December 2019, myriad Facebook posts shared an article claiming that a “drunk crop duster” pilot spread four tons of manure across Kansas: El Dorado, Kansas | An agricultural airplane pilot made a serious mistake this morning while oper
Truth or Fiction?→ A Holiday Debunking: Comparing Trump and Obama’s Treatment of ‘Merry Christmas’
As the ginned-up “War on Christmas” has become an annual fixation among the American right wing, a parallel has emerged for critics of United States President Donald Trump, who have seized on the season to tweak him by comparing him to his
Truth or Fiction?→ Do You Need to Remove Barcodes from Donated Toys Because People Exchange Them for Cigarettes and Beer?
On December 9 2019, a number of news outlets published a syndicated article with the headlines “Donating Toys This Holiday Season? You Might Want to Remove the Barcode,” or, alternately, “Remove The Barcode If You’re Donating
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Butt Plug’ Christmas Tree in Paris
In December 2019 a number of Facebook users shared photographs and memes depicting a purportedly modernist Christmas tree in Paris, France — which also happened to resemble a giant version of a certain type of sex toy: In the post above, atop a p
Truth or Fiction?→ UPS Thanks Police for Killing Driver Frank Ordonez
On December 5 2019 — after law enforcement officers in south Florida shot and killed a hostage, a bystander, and two suspected thieves during a daytime shootout in a busy intersection during rush hour — a number of popular tweets claimed that UPS
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Jeff Bezos Didn’t Donate $100M LOL, He Took $100M of Amazon Stock and ‘Donated’ it to His Own Charity’ Meme
On November 25 2019, Twitter user @TheyCallMeChew tweeted about the controversial donation by Amazon chief executive officer Jeff Bezos of nearly $100 million to homelessness charities, claiming that the donation was not what it seemed: Jeff Bezos
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘I Don’t Think People Fully Understand How Much 1 Billion Is’ Tweet
A November 2019 Facebook screenshot of a tweet claiming that people typically “don’t understand how much a billion is,” is one of many similar viral social media posts about the relative worth of a billion dollars, and discourse arou