While the damage caused by the plant species Dendrocnide moroides has been recounted in various outlets, one graphic spreading in August 2019 adds apocryphal claims to the stories around it. The graphic shows a photograph of the plant, commonly known
Publication: viral content
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘10,874 People Killed by Drunk Drivers in 2017, 403 by Rifles but Walmart Stops Selling Rifles’ Meme
On September 3 2019, the Facebook page “Life’s Short Live Free” shared the following meme commentary (archived here), discussing Walmart discontinuing the sale of some firearms: Black text against a purple background contr
Truth or Fiction?→ The Love Letters of Gilbert Bradley and Gordon Bowsher
Various memes detailing a secret relationship between two British men during World War II described in various posts circulated through social media in August 2019. One post about Gilbert Bradley and Gordon Bowsher, and the correspondence they kept th
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Teen in Colorado Fall Gravely Ill From Vaping?
On August 30 2019, a Facebook user shared a lengthy post (archived here) about her daughter Piper’s purported illness, in a screed blaming “vaping” for the girl’s condition. In the post, Johnson claimed that two weeks previou
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘This View of Hurricane Dorian Is Unlike Anything I’ve Ever Seen’
On September 1 2019, the following image purportedly depicting a rainbow in the eye of Hurricane Dorian appeared on social media: The post was shared more than 30,000 times in two days. An added caption read: Dorian’s image from NASA!!!😲🙏
Truth or Fiction?→ Is Olive Garden Funding Trump’s 2020 Campaign?
On August 26 2019, a Facebook user shared the following post (archived here), claiming Olive Garden was financially backing United States President Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign: It seems that a few times a week, text-based status
Truth or Fiction?→ Nine Things a Woman Couldn’t Do in 1971
In August 2019 the Facebook page “Old Crone” shared the following post, listing nine everyday activities women were purportedly prohibited from doing up until the year 1971 (with some commentary about subsequent related liberties): Bene
Truth or Fiction?→ Did The Movie ‘Venom’ Get More Money Than Fire Relief for the Brazilian Amazon?
Following the August 2019 news that the G7 economic forum agreed to pledge $20 million to contain fires tearing through the Amazon rainforest, digital artist Todd Vaziri‘s note of perspective on Twitter struck a chord online. Vaziri — who has
Truth or Fiction?→ Can You Use Breastmilk Topically to Treat Various Conditions?
In August 2018, a post from “Parents R Us” about topical use of breastmilk to treat various conditions (archived here) appeared and has made the rounds online since, showing claims that have long been around in other forms as advice shar
Truth or Fiction?→ Is This the Bedroom of Medgar Evers’ Sons?
On August 23 2019, Facebook user Steven Pokin shared a photograph along with a lengthy status update, claiming that it shows the bedroom that Medgar Evers’ sons slept in: This is where the two little sons of Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers s
Truth or Fiction?→ Does This Map Show the Locations of the Amazon Wildfires?
In the later days of August 2019, a map showing the many locations of wildfires raging through Brazil’s Amazon rainforest territory (and through other countries) made the rounds. The map contains legitimate information, but experts did advise re
Truth or Fiction?→ Did the Text on this Tote Bag Say It Was There to ‘Terrify Those Afraid of Arabic’?
Two Palestinian graphic designers’ work has been drawing attention for years online, but online shoppers looking to spread its sarcastic message may be disappointed. Haitham Haddad and Sana Jammalieh’s totebag was first seen in August 201
Truth or Fiction?→ Was an Ecuadorian Tribe’s Rainforest Home Hit by a Rash of Wildfires?
As awareness of unprecedented wildfires hitting rainforests in the Brazilian Amazon spread online in August 2019, social media users began drawing links between the blazes and a court victory for an indigenous Ecuadorian tribe weeks earlier. On July 1
Truth or Fiction?→ Has Denmark Offered to Buy the United States From Russia?
In the later days of August 2019, the Trump administration presented a dizzying array of outrageous claims and proposals, one of which appeared to capture the hearts and minds of American reporters completely for several days — a pitch to buy Greenl
Truth or Fiction?→ Did University of Findlay Students Discover a Chemical Compound that Kills Glioblastoma?
On August 18 2019, Facebook page “Smooth AF” shared a screenshot of a tweet claiming that University of Findlay students had discovered a chemical compound that “kills glioblastoma cells”: At the top of the image was an August
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Dick’s Sporting Goods Lose $150 Million After Reducing Gun Sales?
On August 15 2019 the following meme (archived here) was shared to social media platforms: White text across a purple background read: Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO: We lost $150M in sales since we stopped selling guns. We still don’t regre
Truth or Fiction?→ Is Facebook Ending Group Chats?
Around mid-August 2019, Facebook group posts about a purported end to Messenger group chat on August 22 began circulating: In the above post, the first paragraph stated: 💥 Attention Facebook Group owners:💥 the ability for you and/or your Grou
Truth or Fiction?→ Was a Crowd of People Filmed Taunting Philadelphia Police During a Standoff?
A Philadelphia television reporter’s remarks became part of a story in and of itself during a police standoff. During a live report on the standoff on 14 August 2019, journalist Alexandria Hoff was covering the standoff. During her time on the s
Truth or Fiction?→ Were Protesters of American Immigration Policies Hit by a Truck and Injured in Rhode Island?
On August 15 2019, Facebook posts (sometimes covered for graphic violence) appeared about an incident during which protesters at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in (Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island) were reported
Truth or Fiction?→ Does Costco Pharmacy Have the Least Expensive Prices and No Membership Requirement?
A long-circulating Facebook post (archived here) claims that Costco pharmacy prices are always lower than other pharmacies, adding that Costco membership is not required to fill a prescription: In what appears to be Facebook commentary added to a
Truth or Fiction?→ Was the Mississippi Chicken Plant Raided by American Immigration Authorities Previously Sued for Workplace Abuses?
An early August 2019 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid at Mississippi chicken plant made national news due to its size and the number of children left without parents or guardians in its wake; in its aftermath, rumors claimed that the b
Truth or Fiction?→ Is the Trump Administration Rewriting the Statue of Liberty’s Poem?
On August 13 2019, a number of news outlets ran headlines such as “Trump official revises Statue of Liberty poem to defend migrant rule change” and “Cuccinelli edits Statue of Liberty poem to defend new rule,” leading some read
Truth or Fiction?→ A Million Seconds Ago Was July 24th, a Billion Seconds Ago Was 1988?
Around August 5 2019, a text meme began circulating on social media comparing a “million” to a “billion” by pointing out that a million seconds prior was the month before (specifically, July 24) and a billion seconds prior was
Truth or Fiction?→ Did a Gallery Worker Mistake an Art Installation for Trash?
An odd story from February 2014 involving a $14,000 art installation and an unwitting maintenance worker that first gained attention online through the use of Tumblr saw new life in August 2019 after being shared widely on Facebook. Italian media firs
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Manhattanites Start a Petition to Change Part of 5th Avenue to ‘Barack Obama Avenue’?
An August 10 2019 tweet by @donaldmackenz30 asserted that New Yorkers (or, more specifically, Manhattanites) dislike United States President Donald Trump so much that they created a petition proposing that the stretch of 5th Avenue between 56th and 5
Truth or Fiction?→ Is Doc from ‘Fraggle Rock’ Also Doc from ‘Boondock Saints’?
In August 2019 Facebook page The Secret Nerd Base shared a “today years old” meme claiming that “Doc” from the childrens’ show Fraggle Rock was played by the same actor portraying “Doc” in the bloody vengean
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Netflix Really Cancel ‘The OA’?
News that Netflix had cancelled its popular supernatural show The OA after airing only two of its five planned seasons aired broke on August 5 2019, causing #SaveTheOA and #RenewTheOA to trend on Twitter. Not long after, fans of the show on Reddit
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Anne Frank Write that ‘Terrible Things’ Were Happening, Parents Taken While Children Were at School?
After an August 7 2019 Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in Mississippi in which young children were left to wander the streets after their parents had been arrested, a quote attributed to Anne Frank about similar occurrences before the Holoca
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Tommy Lee Write a Lengthy Anti-Trump Screed on Twitter?
On August 7 2019, musician Tommy Lee shared a screenshot of a longer post to Twitter, commentary in which he purportedly began “You Trumpsters better pray that liberals never gain control of the WH again”: pic.twitter.com/XLT4DQJo5b &mda
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘First Day of School’ Picture After Mississippi ICE Raid
On August 8 2019, Facebook user Lora Kay Morrow shared the following photograph (archived here), purportedly showing a distressed young girl whose parents were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on her first day of school in Mississ
Truth or Fiction?→ 2019 ‘Reported Cases of Flesh Eating Bacteria’ Map on Facebook
On July 17 2019, a Facebook user shared a post (archived here), claiming an image of a map plotted the locations of “reported cases of flesh eating bacteria” that summer. In the status update, the user wrote: I will no longer be going to
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Last Year Guns Killed’ Protest Sign
A November 2018 Facebook post about purported gun deaths “last year” (in this case, 2017) circulated in the aftermath of two back-to-back deadly mass shootings in early August 2019 (post archived here): A sign held up at an unnamed eve
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Police in Texas Attach a ‘Leash’ to a Black Man’s Handcuffs?
On August 5 2019 the Facebook page “Adrienne Bell for Congress” shared the following image without a description, which appeared to show a black man handcuffed and attached to a leash held by a white police officer who was leading him do
Truth or Fiction?→ DJ Cooper ‘Pregnant’?
On August 4 2019, the Facebook page “NBA talk” shared a meme containing the claim that that male basketball player DJ Cooper’s urine test for drugs returned a positive result… but not for drugs: Along with a status update
Truth or Fiction?→ Is Someone Putting Nair in Hair Conditioner Bottles?
A pair of posts shared to Facebook on July 28 and 29 2019 carried a warning to consumers, claiming that a woman’s hair had “fallen out in clumps” because someone had added Nair (or another cream-based depilatory) to conditioner purch
Truth or Fiction?→ Is OfficeMax Selling Bullet-Resistant Backpacks?
On July 28 2019, a Facebook user shared a Snapchat image to Facebook (archived here), apparently showing a sale at OfficeMax of bullet-resistant backpacks. Across the image was text reading “SHIT JUST BROKE MY HEART,” and the following co
Truth or Fiction?→ Did Lemons Evolve Naturally?
On July 29 2019, the Facebook page “Absurd Memes for a Better Tomorrow” shared a claim that lemons are not naturally occurring: Underneath a “what’s on your mind” tweet in a screenshot, another account responds with a
Truth or Fiction?→ Does Video Show Seesaws on Both Sides of the Border Wall?
On July 29 2019, the Facebook page “Jolt Texas” shared a video (archived here), stating that “[artists] installed seesaws at the border wall” so that “kids in the U.S. and Mexico could play together”: The clip r
Truth or Fiction?→ Can Only People Under 40 Hear This Sound?
In July 2019 a number of posts circulated Facebook, all of which linked to video of a 15000 Hz/15 kHz frequency sound that is purportedly only audible to people younger than 40. One iteration (archived here) accrued a large number of shares. Its origi
Truth or Fiction?→ Steve Jobs’ Last Words?
On July 30 2019, Facebook user Joseph Rudy Rullo shared what were purportedly Apple pioneer Steve Jobs’ last words (archived here), uttered on his deathbed: The post eventually segued into other musings, but it began with Jobs’ suppose