Netflix released Black Mirror standalone special “Bandersnatch,” which featured an interactive “choose your own adventure” style plot, on December 28, 2018. Immediately, viewers began dissecting its elements — chief among them claims that the story was (at …
A meme with the claim that the word “bar” is an acronym for “beer and alcohol room” suddenly appeared in late December 2018: The meme was virtually identical in both presentation and format to a similar post …
Is ‘Bar’ an Acronym for ‘Beer and Alcohol Room’? Read More »
In late December 2018, the Facebook page for Yahoo! Now shared a link to an article with a comment that two-thirds of millennials “don’t know what Auschwitz was”: The post linked to an article aggregated …
Do Two-Thirds of Millennials Not Know What Auschwitz Is? Read More »
In late December 2018, a screenshot of a tweet attributed to a Twitter user who goes by “@MAGA_diane” began circulating on social media: The tweet appeared with a link to a GoFundMe campaign to fund …
In December 2018, claims that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had once deemed the holiday classic film It’s a Wonderful Life to be “communist propaganda” circulated on various social media sites: Fun Fact: Months after It’s A …
Did the FBI Declare That ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ Was ‘Communist Propaganda’? Read More »
On December 18, 2018, a Facebook user shared this meme about tax and purported socialism in several European countries: In addition to a chart listing purported figures for Germany, England, Italy, and Greece, its text read: …
Is a Meme About Taxes Europeans Pay for Their ‘Free Stuff’ Accurate? Read More »
A December 20, 2018 tweet from political operative Katrina Pierson was widely examined and commented on when its syntax made it appear that Pierson was chiding Sen. John McCain — who died the previous August — for …
On December 17, 2018 YouTube content creator and former NASA engineer Mark Rober shared a video called “Package Thief vs. Glitter Bomb Trap,” which purportedly showed the aftermath of a glitter bomb deployment on unwitting porch …
Is a Viral ‘Package Thief vs. Glitter Bomb Trap’ Video Real? Read More »
Following news on December 18, 2018 that the Trump Foundation would close, a tweet attributed to former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee in which he appeared to think that the Clinton Foundation was closing circulated in …
Is a Mike Huckabee Tweet About the Clinton Foundation Real? Read More »
A tweet published in December 2018 reiterated a long-circulating purported “life hack,” in which an easy-to-miss arrow on a car’s gas gauge indicated the side of the vehicle on which its gas tank was located: …
Does the Arrow on a Car’s Gas Gauge Indicate Which Side Has the Fuel Tank? Read More »
