In January 2019, various posts appeared in myriad Facebook groups urging users to provide engagement with the post to avoid a purported purge of “inactive members.” Iterations of the same warning spread across Facebook groups of all types: Y’ALL, FB IS DELETING INACTIVE PEOPLE OUT OF GROUPS. IF YOU SEE THIS COMMENT AN EMOJI, PLEASE …
Is Facebook Removing Inactive Members from Groups? Read More »
Amid a flurry of headlines about the government shutdown and Michael Cohen on January 18 2019, President Donald Trump tweeted a highly dubious claim that ranchers on the southern United States border had found “prayer rugs” as part of a plea to fund his plan to build a wall to separate the U.S. from Mexico: Border …
Did Texas Ranchers Find ‘Prayer Rugs’ Near the U.S.-Mexico Border? Read More »
On January 10, 2019, a text-based status update about United States President George W. Bush’s Secure Fence Act of 2006 went viral: President George W. Bush signed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 into law “approved $50 Billion for the wall” WHERE IS THAT MONEY? Although the post was exceptionally well circulated (in excess of 200,000 …
Did the United States Authorize $50 Billion for the Secure Fence Act of 2006? Read More »
On January 12 2019, a Facebook user added the caption “The Swan embracing the veterinarian, who saved his life” to the photo below: Part of the image’s appeal seemed to be a long-circulating myth that swans are inherently dangerous and fond of breaking human bones. The BBC addressed the risk of handling swans in an …
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After Netflix’s Tidying Up with Marie Kondo debuted in January 2019, social media lit up with takes lambasting Kondo’s supposedly draconian position on the possession of books: Wait Marie Kondo is telling people to toss their books? THEIR BOOKS? was very intrigued by marie kondo’s konmari method until she got to the category of throwing out books…………. …
Did Marie Kondo Tell People They Could Only Keep Thirty Books at a Time? Read More »
In January 2019 amid an ongoing government shutdown, a May 2018 Occupy Democrats meme showed up once again on Facebook: Under a photograph of Melania Trump and President Trump, text stated: Today, Melania Trump announced her new agenda, focused on “children’s health and well-being.” Also today, Donald Trump asked Congress to cut $7 billion from …
A purported 1990s-era photograph of McConnell in front of a large Confederate flag has circulated intermittently since at least 2015.
In January 2019, Facebook page “The Original American Resistance” shared a meme attributing a quote to former United States Secretary of Defense James “Mad Dog” Mattis: The quote at the bottom of the image said: WHAT PISSES ME OFF IS, MY MEN DEFEND FREEDOM ALL OVER THE WORLD WITH A GUN. YET WHEN THEY GOME HOME …
In mid-January 2019, the Facebook page “I Love My Country” shared a status update meme with the title, “Democrat Government Shutdown Explained”: Amid scattered images of United States President Donald Trump, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California), the meme’s text read: DEMOCRAT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN EXPLAINED PRESIDENT TRUMP IS ASKING FOR …
In January 2019, a Facebook user posted a status update that has since become virally popular. It said: IMAGINE THAT NANCY PELOSI IS REFUSING TO MEET WITH ANY U.S. CITIZEN WHO HAD A FAMILY MEMBER MURDERED BY AN ILLEGAL. The post appeared on its own with no citations or other information to contextualize its claims. However, we …
