‘Average Jeans Colors Per State’ Map A long-circulating map chart purportedly depicting average jeans wash color preferences by state resurfaced in June 2021.
Blendoor ‘Black Lives Matter’ Study Several identical articles attributed various conclusions to a study conducted by startup company Blendoor concerning Black Lives Matter statements and workplace diversity.
Cream of Tartar and Orange Juice to Quit Smoking? A viral Facebook post claims that the popular condiment and cooking aid reduces nicotine cravings.
Do People Ingest Five Grams of Plastic Per Week? Ocean plastic memes are everywhere; one claims that we are all eating the equivalent of a credit card a week.
Do Smiling Babies Have to Look Away from People Because They’re ‘Overwhelmed with Joy’? A popular Reddit r/wholesomememes post claimed that smiling babies "look away" because their fledgling emotions are too much for them to handle.
Will 154,000,000 Pieces of Plastic from Christmas Crackers in the UK Wind Up in the Ocean in a Single Year? Here's how the rumor about hundreds of millions of pieces of "crackers" becoming ocean plastic got started.
Spooky Season, Activated Charcoal in Food, and Medication A viral social media post warns users not to fall for a "spooky season" trend, claiming that activated charcoal in foods can decrease the efficacy of certain medications and contraceptives.
Mass Shooter Media Myth On February 2019, television personality John Stossel released a video to Facebook watch, entitled “Media Hype Questionable Gun Control Study/MASS SHOOTER MEDIA MYTH.” That video was first shared to YouTube on December 18 2018. The clip was just under five-and-a-half minutes, and in it, Stossel introduces a segment challenging a purported “media myth” involving mass […]
Do the Colors You See in a Photograph Reveal Left or Right Brain Dominance? On May 3 2019, @CNYcentral shared the following tweet featuring a photograph of a shoe with a claim that the colors in which it appeared to render revealed whether a reader is either “left-brained” or “right-brained”: WHAT COLOR DO YOU SEE? 👀 Apparently, If the right-half of your brain is dominant, you will see a […]
‘Sequencing Fish Samples’ Viral Twitter Thread On April 6 2019, a screenshots (archived here) of a Twitter thread originally published by @AwesomeBioTA one day prior went viral on social media: https://www.facebook.com/hayden.leo.25/posts/10205735251017021 In the original thread, the poster (@AwesomeBioTA) recounted the purported results of her class’s attempt to sequence samples of seafood gathered at places like supermarkets and sushi restaurants: OH BOY OH […]
