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: The clip quickly spiked to millions of views and over 100,000 shares, and commenters were divided over whether it was authentic …
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 …
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, …
Christmas Tradition of Women Begging Their Husbands for Forgiveness? Read More »
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 …
Are FDR and LBJ Era ‘Say No to Socialism’ Buttons Authentic? Read More »
On February 20 2019 the Facebook page “Medicare for All” shared a following meme contrasting the purported costs of health care coverage in the United States versus the United Kingdom (and alleging that Americans prefer their system): The meme showed a screenshot of a Tumblr user commenting on a screenshot of a tweet. The first user …
Does the UK’s National Health Service Cost £10 a Month vs $2,500 For American Insurance? Read More »
On February 20 2019, UNILAD shared a video to Facebook titled “Red Crab Eats Her Newborn Babies.” The clip was wildly popular, racking up millions of views and shares in under 24 hours (the video itself can be viewed here.) It was captioned: Red Crab Eats Her Newborn Babies Just a momma red crab snacking …
Does a Viral Video Depict a Crab Eating Her Babies? Read More »
On January 13 2019, Facebook user Steve Raabe shared a photograph purportedly showing a sign at the U.S.-Mexico border, along with the following status update: I live on the border with Mexico. As a matter of fact, I live right on the edge. I was raised in Nevada and came to Arizona in 2003 to live. …
Do Border Signs Admit the United States Has Lost Control of Border Territory? Read More »
On February 19 2019, a woman shared a harrowing account via Facebook which reported that a phony Uber driver in Tampa had nearly successfully abducted her for the purposes of sex trafficking. In her post, Emmy Hurley described the purported brush with a human trafficker: Last night I was picked up by an Uber. Same …
On February 15 2019, the Facebook page “Quartzsite Happenings” published the following photograph, captioned “Stairway in an abandoned button factory”: The compelling image began racking up shares, but it suspiciously lacked any sort of contextual information enabling its caption’s verification. It also was shared to Reddit‘s r/pics in September 2018, with a title identical to …
On February 10 2019, Senator Chris McDaniel shared a meme quoting Ronald Reagan on “socialism” only functioning properly in two places: Above a black-and-white photograph of President Reagan, the meme read: SOCIALISM ONLY WORKS IN TWO PLACES: HEAVEN, WHERE THEY DON’T NEED IT, AND HELL WHERE THEY ALREADY HAVE IT. Iterations of the same quote …
Did Ronald Reagan Say Socialism ‘Only Works in Two Places,’ Heaven and Hell? Read More »
