The hunt for an “identical wrist freckle” among women on social media went viral in May 2019 following a widely-shared tweet: In it, the original poster included four images of a purportedly identical wrist freckle on four different people, and wrote: ladies….. u got a freckle on the middle of ur wrist or is this …
In February 2019, the Facebook page “Country n garden” shared a post (archived here) borrowed from another source, which claimed that cornmeal is an effective substance in home gardens to prevent the spread of weeds: Above an image of a metal measuring cup shaking cornmeal into a garden, text offered a purported explanation of cornmeal as …
Can You Use Cornmeal to Keep Weed Seeds from Germinating? Read More »
In April 2019, the Facebook page “Donald Plants” shared the following meme (archived here), which claimed that six “eradicated diseases” are in the process of “making a comeback” thanks to the presence of refugees and undocumented immigrants in the United States. In the meme, six “eradicated diseases” were named: tuberculosis, measles, whooping cough, mumps, scarlet fever, …
Are Eradicated Diseases Making a Comeback Because of Immigrants and Refugees? Read More »
On May 30 2019 the Facebook page “Occupy Democrats” shared the following meme (archived here), purportedly contrasting rates of infant mortality in states which had recently passed or had pending restrictions on abortion: In a column on the left side of the meme, nine states were numbered under a column, “states passing abortion bans.” Those …
On May 29 2019, a claim published by the Wall Street Journal was quickly picked up by other news organizations, all relating a story about President Donald Trump’s visit to Japan and his purported disdain for the USS John McCain: The White House wanted the U.S. Navy to move “out of sight” the warship USS John S. McCain …
Was the USS John McCain Hidden From Sight for President Donald Trump’s Japan Visit? Read More »
On May 26 2019, rock musician turned conservative commentator Ted Nugent shared the following video and caption to his Facebook page: Listen very closely to the new congresswoman from Michigan what the enemies of America believe especially on Memorial Day so we don’t let them continue to destroy the wonderful American system of individual freedom …
On January 31 2019, a Facebook user shared the following meme (archived here), claiming that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had once said that it was possible to “land on the sun” and “we just have to go at night”: Not only did the post not include any indication as to whether it was presented as real …
During a May 23 2019 vote in the UK, early-morning rumors circulated that the latest in a line of milkshake-throwing incidents involved elderly British Army veteran Don McNaughton in the south England town of Aldershot: British tabloids raced to publish articles about the latest purported milkshaking incident. Express.co.uk reported the rumors: The elderly man was covered in a thick …
Was a Milkshake Thrown at an Elderly Brexit Party Volunteer? Read More »
On February 26 2019, a Facebook user shared the following post (archived here), purportedly showing the world’s youngest parents: Aside from a caption (“Man Wtf????”), no included information explained how the original poster had divined this information from a single photograph. Nevertheless, the image accrued tens of thousands of shares. Commenters on the image were …
Does This Picture Show the ‘Youngest Parents in the World’? Read More »
Amid a rash of near-total abortion bans in various American states in May 2019, a screenshot of two tweets regarding sexual consent laws in North Carolina caused further confusion on social media. As of May 22 2019, one of the two tweets was deleted, but one was still live: In the screenshot, both the deleted …
Is North Carolina Changing Rape Laws So Victims Cannot ‘Withdraw Consent’? Read More »
