On February 28 2019, a Facebook user shared the image below (archived here) and commented: “So if u have astigmatism, then this is what lights look like to you. I always thought this was what they looked like for everybody”: The post was consequently shared nearly half a million times in approximately a week. Due …
If You Have Astigmatism, This Is What Lights Look Like Read More »
In the aftermath of the March 2019 U.S. media frenzy surrounding the Momo challenge, a number of “real Momo videos” have opportunistically surfaced and quickly racked up large share counts. We came across several of the likely many surviving “real Momo” videos on Facebook that were posted by concerned parents, although given the nature of …
A long-circulating Facebook status meme of indeterminate claims that typing #911 in a comment will generate a green line or green bar, confirming that the user commenting is “not a snitch.” Variations of the meme (which date back to March 2016) tend to operate as “engagement bait” — or, to be more precise in this …
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 …
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 …
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 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 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 …
