KYM Review: Rumors and Hoaxes of 2017

Editor’s Note: This article is part of Know Your Meme’s annual review series looking back at some of the most memorable and popular memes, events and people that defined internet culture in 2017 as we know it.

he year began with the issue of "fake news" taking center stage in online discourse, which only escalated the discord between social media and news media in the United States and elsewhere. But contrary to popular belief, rumormongering and hoaxing have been a long running craft in the world of internet trolling. And as the public awareness and counter-troll intelligence grow with each passing year, trolls come up with increasingly sophisticated methods to outwit the skeptics.

2017 was no exception. Many of these pranks have been done in good fun, including fake posts about eating "Piss Jello", conspiracy theories that Avril Lavigne is dead and absurd "quick rundowns" on Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff.

On Reddit, a conspiracy theory arose out of an investigation into the Kentucky Fried Chicken Twitter account, with some suspecting that a Redditor was behind a guerilla marketing campaign for the fast food company. Meanwhile, Redditor danorexia managed to trick the entire /r/me_irl subreddit into turning him into a meme by falsely claiming he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Meanwhile on Facebook, a campaign to convince the world that Australia is not real was widely successful, bearing many similarities to a similar conspiracy theory about Finland.

Without further adieu, strap on your tinfoil hat and take a cruise down memory lane as we go over all the rumors, bamboozles and other fake news that took the internet by storm in 2017.

Sam Hyde Is the Shooter

An ongoing campaign in which internet trolls falsely identify comedian Sam Hyde as the perpetrator of shootings and terrorist attacks across the United States.

• Duration: 2015 – Current Day

• How It Started: As early as 2015, online pranksters circulated photographs of Hyde wielding an assault rifle along with claims that he was identified as a gunman in various mass shootings.

• How It Unraveled: Following a shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez mistakenly said he was given the name Sam Hyde as the gunman responsible.

Clovergender

A fake gender identity term created for pedophiles who supposedly identify as young children.

• Duration: December 2016 – January 2017

• How It Started: In late December of last year, 4chan users began creating fake Twitter accounts to spread images promoting Clovergender as a gender identity, which were then amplified by celebrities like Lauren Southern and Martin Shkreli.

• How It Unraveled: In early January, Snopes published an article exposing the 4chan operation as a hoax titled "Cloverfailed".

How to Break Your Thumb Ligament

A viral infographic which falsely claimed viewers could break a ligament attaching their thumb to their wrist.

• Duration: January 2017 – January 2017

• How It Started: In early January, Twitter user @RahSenpai posted screenshots of a text message conversation in which a friend appears to dislocate his thumb while attempting the instructions in the infographic.

• How It Unraveled: Following the spread of viral photographs showing what appeared to be thumbs injured and deformed by the challenge, various news sites published articles exposing the infographic as a fraud.

4chan Alien Sighting Hoax

A digitally altered image claiming to show an alien creature outside the Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, Arizona turned into a full blown conspiracy theory after a temporary server outrage caused the image to be lost on 4chan.

• Duration: February 2017 – February 2017

• How It Started: What appeared to be a corrupted image file of a alien figure walking in front of a tree was submitted to 4chan with a description claiming it was taken 24 miles outside of the Luke Air Force Base. After 4chan's Cloudflare servers went down, the thread was lost, leading many users to speculate that a government conspiracy had taken the image offline.

• How It Unraveled: Internet sleuths discovered the original images used to create the fake picture, which included a photograph of an alien sculpture.

Zenzi

A fake meme created in an attempt to trick the meme explainer YouTube channel Behind the Meme.

• Duration: February 2017 – February 2017

• How It Started: In late February, a 4chan user launched a thread to brainstorm ideas to bring down the Behind the Meme YouTube channel. In the comments section, one user suggested spamming the word "zenzi" in the channel's comment section to trick him into making a poorly-researched video about the non-existent meme.

• How It Unraveled: The same day, Behind the Meme uploaded an explainer video on the meme, in which he exposed the 4chan threads and discouraged meme elitism on the web.

TheReportOfTheWeek Goes Missing

False claims that YouTuber TheReportOfTheWeek had gone missing in the aftermath of a tragic shooting or terrorist attack.

• Duration: May 2017 – Current Day

• How It Started: Following the tragic suicide terrorist attack outside the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, United Kingdom, a collage of missing people began circulating including a photograph of TheReportOfTheWeek.

• How It Unraveled: Photographs of TheReportOfTheWeek began circulating along with the false claims that he had gone missing in the wake of the 2017 Las Vegas Strip shooting, leading news outlets like the BBC to publish articles exposing the social media posts as a hoax.

NAMBLA Protest Sign

A viral photograph featuring a masked man holding a sign bearing the logo of the North American Man/Boy Love Association in front of protesters.

• Duration: October 2017 – October 2017

• How It Started: A photograph of a man holding a sign appearing to defend pedophilia in protest of Mike Cernovich began circulating on Twitter in late October, with many on the right accusing Cernovich protesters of promoting pedophilia.

• How It Unraveled: While it hasn't been proven to be a hoax, several news sites published articles investigating the authenticity of the photo, with many speculating that it had been staged by a Cernovich supporter.

Starbucks Dreamer Day Hoax

A fake Starbucks promotion in which discounts would supposedly be provided to undocumented immigrants at the coffee chain.

• Duration: August 2017 – August 2017

• How It Started: In early August, users on 4chan's /pol/ board launched a plot to spread fake images promoting a "Dreamer Day" at Starbucks, where undocumented immigrants would be granted discounts.

• How It Unraveled: After discovering the hoax operation, Starbucks announced that the rumors were completely false via their official Twitter feed.

It's Okay to Be White

A slogan created as a "proof of concept" to demonstrate that if signs printed with the phrase were placed in public then they would be accused of promoting racism and white supremacy.

• Duration: October 2017 – Month 2017

• How It Started: In late October, 4chan users began encouraging viewers to place printed signs with the slogan in various public areas in order to cause a "media shitstorm."

• How It Unraveled: Many news sites published articles about the intial 4chan threads, exposing how the operation was meant to be a media troll.

Sahar Tabar's Instagram Photos

Viral photographs from an Iranian teenager's Instagram who several news sites falsely reported had undergone 50 plastic surgeries to look like Angelina Jolie.

• Duration: October 2017 – December 2017

• How It Started: In late November, various tabloid news publications began circulating the sensational rumor that Iranian teenager Sahar Tabar had received numerous plastic surgeries to resemble Angelina Jolie.

• How It Unraveled: In early December, Tabar spoke the Russian news site Sputnik, revealing she had only received three plastic surgeries and that she was not trying to look like Jolie. Additionally, she revealed that the looks seen in her photographs were obtained using makeup and Photoshop.