Analysis of Two Meme Hoaxes

The power of the internet can be both a blessing and a curse. Some might think that having so much readily accessible information has made the world smarter, but from another perspective, it could be easily contended that it has not. Social media is one example, where the pervasive modus operandi is to speak first, instead of using the power of internet to learn first. Social media routinely exposes how the average person is susceptible to being deceived and duped, such as by hoaxes, which is the result of a failure to apply any amount of healthy skepticism.

One common type of hoax is via a meme, which is an image overlaid with text, and some can go viral on social media. Memes are shared widely on Facebook, X (the former Twitter), and even the business focused LinkedIn. Examples of a meme include a photo of someone famous with a quote, or an image annotated with facts or statistics. The problem is that a significant amount of these memes are hoaxes. It only takes an attractively designed meme, and many will blindly accept it as fact and share it further. In some cases, the hoax is subtle and packaged to sound true, while in other cases, the hoax is designed to feed on confirmation bias and fuel someone's existing beliefs.

Below are two examples of meme hoaxes that I encountered on LinkedIn. Both of these meme hoaxes are typically found on Facebook and X, where I had previously encountered them. Due to the business focus of LinkedIn, as well as out of respect, I decided to reach out privately to the individuals who posted the memes and politely advised that they were hoaxes. The responses of both individuals are also summarized below.

Analysis of a Quote Meme Hoax

Memes with a photograph of a famous person and a quote are very common, but the problem is that a significant portion of them are hoaxes, and the person never said it. Some are fabricated well enough that the quote may sound like something that the famous person might have said, but it is simply not true. From my own skeptical viewpoint, memes with quotes are something that I assume to be a hoax until the quote can be verified. There are quote meme hoaxes for a variety of historical figures and famous people, including Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, Keanu Reeves, and in this case, Denzel Washington.

A meme with the quote of "With so many things coming back in style, I can't wait until morals, respect and intelligence become a trend again" appears on more than one photograph of Denzel Washington. The following version appeared in my LinkedIn feed, and was posted by someone that I'm not connected with, but appeared in my feed as one of my connections interacted with the post.

Multiple versions of this meme can be readily found online, and the problem is that Denzel Washington never said it. With a simple Google search, similar versions of the quote can readily be found on memes attributing it to Liam Neeson, Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, and Robert De Niro.

When I encountered the meme of Denzel Washington in my LinkedIn feed, it had already gathered over 143,000 likes and over 5,600 comments, which raises a variety of questions. What kind of power does social media have? Is the average person really that susceptible to being manipulated, deceived, and duped? Most of the comments were gushing with praise for Denzel Washington, and how they emphatically agreed with him. The problem is that he never said it.

Via a private message, I very politely reached out to the poster of the meme, and gently suggested the fact that it was a hoax. I also suggested that I would willingly and openly stand corrected if he knew of a verifiable source. The poster responded back very politely, and included a link to an Instagram post where he found it, which was from an account purporting to be Denzel Washington with the word "official" in the handle. The problem? Denzel Washington does not have any social media presence, and the account of someone that famous would be verified, and this one was not. Unfortunately, the poster got duped twice, which was first by an Instagram account from an imposter, and next by the meme. After a couple of more very polite and cordial exchanges between us, the poster acknowledged it was a hoax, took personal accountability, and deleted the post from LinkedIn.

Analysis of a Glurge Meme Hoax

Memes with a inspirational photograph and caption are very common on social media. The problem is that many of them are glurge hoaxes, and while "supposed to be true and uplifting," they actually are"often fabricated." From my own skeptical viewpoint, memes with inspirational captions are something that I assume to be a hoax until the caption can be verified.

A meme with the quote of "This man is paralysed but his friends held him up to get married" appears on a photograph with a bride, groom, and four men. The following version appeared in my LinkedIn feed, and was posted by someone that I'm not connected with, but appeared in my feed as one of my connections interacted with the post.

It is a photograph from an actual wedding, but the caption is false and the man is not paralyzed. At least three fact check sites, including Snopes, PolitiFact, and AFP Fact Check, contain verifiable background information on the photograph, and how it is depicting a fraternity tradition.

When I encountered the meme in my LinkedIn feed, it had already gathered over 175,000 likes and over 800 comments, which raises a variety of questions. What kind of power does social media have? Is the average person really that susceptible to being manipulated, deceived, and duped? Many of the commenters expressed how they were emotionally gushing and even "crying" over the groomsmen holding up a paralyzed groom. The problem is that the caption is not what the photograph depicts.

Via a private message, I very politely reached out to the poster of the meme, and gently suggested the fact that it was a hoax. The polite response was "That issue has been duly noted. I used this picture not for it's captions but for its symbolism. You have to read what I wrote in my post, it has nothing to do with anyone being paralyzed." The poster was referring to a very terse sentence which he included with the meme, which was about the quality of your friends and being your "brother's keeper."

The poster already knew and recognized that the caption was a hoax, and did not have any desire to update his post. If his purpose had "nothing to do with anyone being paralyzed," he could have easily cropped that portion out. Instead, the poster consciously allowed people to continue believing that the caption was genuine and emotionally gush over it in dozens comments. This was somewhat disturbing from an integrity and accountability perspective, particularly being on the business oriented LinkedIn site. One obvious conclusion that could be drawn is that some level of narcissism was in play, and the desire was attention seeking and the gathering of likes.

Summary

The moral of the story is to never trust a meme. Before you share any meme, do everyone else a favor and do a simple Google search to validate the information that it contains. As far as the verification of quotations, it should be noted that many quote websites have no sources, so those types of websites are not reliable. It was also interesting to contrast the two very different reactions from posters of both memes, where one took personal accountability and the other did not. Personally speaking, I would be beyond embarrassed to discover that something which I shared turned out to be a hoax.

SOURCES

Imagery of the meme quotes for Liam Neeson, Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, and Robert De Niro was obtained via a simple a Google search.
All other imagery was obtained via screenshots from the actual public posts on LinkedIn.