Are People Returning Pandemic Pets?
Stories shaming bad behavior lead to easy clicks, such as claims that pandemic pets were being surrendered to shelters in record numbers.
‘Lieserl Einstein Donated 1,400 Lost Letters,’ ‘The Universal Force Is Love’ Facebook Post
A popular and long-circulating Facebook post about lost letters by Albert Einstein on the Theory of Relativity and love was inspiring — and utterly contradicted the little known about his daughter’s life.
‘Black Lives Matter Says It Stands with Hamas’ Fox News Stealth Edit
Fox News quietly changed a headline claiming that Black Lives Matter said it “stands with Hamas,” but aggregated versions by Fox affiliates (and Google cache) told a different story.
McDonald’s ‘$18 an Hour’ Hiring Sign
An image of a McDonald’s banner purportedly advertising an $18 an hour wage with a suspicious asterisk went viral on Twitter, then Facebook.
Lauren Boebert ‘Mugshot’ Tweet
A screenshot of a tweet purportedly included a mugshot of Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert.
‘Colonial Pipeline Was Shut Down Over Fears About Billing Customers’ Rumor
A high-profile cyberattack led to a temporary shutdown of Colonial Pipeline, purportedly because the company feared being unable to bill customers properly.
‘Fabuloso in Toilet Tank’ TikTok Hack
The prospect of Fabuloso scenting your toilet tank is alluring, but a viral CleanTok hack has been the subject of debate over whether it’s septic safe or bad for seals and gaskets.
@KaitMarieox ‘Might Just Start Wearing A Mask Again … Wouldn’t Want To Give Off The Impression That I’m A Vaccinated Democrat’ Tweet
Screenshots of a tweet attributed to Kaitlin Bennett about wearing a mask circulated in screenshots, and suggested the line between satire and reality is increasingly thin.
‘Millennials Hold 4.8% of All Wealth, At the Same Age, Gen X Had 9% of Wealth, Boomers Had 21%’
A May 2021 tweet by Seattle-area CEO Dan Price claimed that Millennials only held 4.8 percent of all wealth, compared to 9 percent for Gen X and 21 percent for Boomers at the same age.
Gas Shortage Hummer Fire
A popular post on Reddit’s r/IdiotsInCars purported showed a Hummer burned in a fire after the driver “hoarded” gas.