Florida Plumber Finds Clog, Reticulated Python A Facebook post featuring a photograph of a purported reticulated python found clogging a drain in Florida began circulating in February 2019: Individual and separate shares of the same image amassed tens of thousands of shares each, and users claimed that the photograph appeared on news stations in the Tampa area. Some users said the […]
Do Children’s Characters ‘Max and Ruby’ Have a Tragic Backstory? In 2015, the following content (archived here), an apparent Tumblr screenshot describing the purported backstory for the preschool book series and television show Max & Ruby, started to circulate on social media: Underneath a still from Max & Ruby were comments from an original poster and another person. The first said: 12 years after it was first aired, […]
Did an Arkansas Republican Propose Cutting Free Lunches to Punish Students? On February 26 2019, the Facebook page “Occupy Democrats” shared the following meme (archived here), alleging that state legislator from Arkansas Alan Clark proposed cuts to school lunch programs for disadvantaged children: Text around a photograph of Clark read: Idiot Politician of the Day – February 26, 2019 America, meet Arkansas Republican State Representative Alan Clark. […]
Tommy Robinson Banned from Facebook, Instagram On February 26 2019, British professional provocateur and far-right activist Tommy Robinson (née Steven Yaxley-Lennon) — perhaps best known for his involvement with disinformation purveyors such as political party (and Brexit architects) UKIP and the anti-Islam English Defence League — was widely rumored to have been banned from social media sites Facebook and Instagram. News organizations […]
Lady Gaga: ‘I Had a Boyfriend Who Told Me I’d Never Succeed’ After 2019’s annual Academy Awards, a Lady Gaga quote about a boyfriend who purportedly told her she would never succeed began circulating on social media. An iteration of that quote (archived here) published to Facebook one day later was captioned “prove them wrong” and “be like Gaga”: A photograph of Lady Gaga (whose real name is Stefani […]
Safety Standards in the 1960s Chairlift Photo On February 20 2019, the Facebook page Pictures in History shared a version of the photograph of a chairlift seen above simply captioned: “Safety standards in the 1960s.” The photograph was not new to the internet, and the meme-style version here was shared to me.me in November 2018 and by BoingBoing in September 2018. That […]
‘Bit Windy Today’ Wind Turbine Failure Video On February 22 2019, the Facebook page “What did I just see?” shared a video (linked here) captioned “Bit windy today,” purportedly depicting the failure of a wind turbine during an intense weather event: https://www.facebook.com/WHATDIDIJUSTSEEE/videos/2190080874541983/?__xts__[0]=68.ARB-I0owaETpyOLgYm8rS_Cfp_VvmdoItPuqa2x3fyXYwyTPI6FNDtiPeDrjsa3DwvUPAiMAtWBrfiOqfSMrsmufNl4ryBIHge67Vw3s09KlGTYecvo2SMecUBVfyfv9PQHC68p0DuOIHcVCJUJV8eQdpnprhp5a6zf66q501fiFeRSzTRzgZI5EhsAlWms5hQH49WiZFoHCrk922VtF7-2kwLWNmT8l0pHXsdFMflEcdJZek-rJEDi8-QKXh6qhv2gqhyOhCbd7RprBwTNEn58_YGtai7mYK-UQjDnkKjjhuOTJkeGijCwTvTIFSIFETvHpvUTp9FpIpXcnNBkzcwqSi6WecsesxJp4Iw&__tn__=-R The clip quickly spiked to millions of views and over 100,000 shares, and commenters were divided over whether it was […]
Meghan Markle’s Royal Portrait? In February 2019, several Facebook posts appeared that purported to show the royal portrait of Meghan Markle, the actress turned Duchess of Sussex. In one popular version, the sharer lauded the fact that “they” (presumably the Queen) didn’t whitewash the biracial American royal: Most posts described the piece as “Meghan Markle’s royal portrait.” However, there is a […]
Christmas Tradition of Women Begging Their Husbands for Forgiveness? On February 24 2019, the Facebook page “Pictures in History” shared the following caption with the photograph seen above: A long forgotten Christmas tradition, women once used to beg their husbands for forgiveness from all of their wrongdoings and mistakes that they made throughout the year. Why did this tradition disappear?!? The post proved immediately popular, […]
Are FDR and LBJ Era ‘Say No to Socialism’ Buttons Authentic? On February 21 2019, economist and former United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich published a tweet alongside what appeared to be an image of two political buttons from Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s and Lyndon B. Johnson’s campaigns: Although Reich made no specific reference to the “say ‘no’ to socialism” buttons shown, he wrote: For over […]
