Fake memes: Why are they created?

 

     I keep considering leaving some social media sites -- too much time spent and too much extraneous material. But then, how would I keep track of birthdays? Also, I spend a lot of my time posting fact checks on fake memes that people pass along without checking. I recognize that people, in general, are not likely to ever start fact checking before passing memes along. But, I don't want these inaccurate memes to continue spreading across the Internet, to possibly thousands of people, without comment. Just maybe, such fact-checks will stop one or more "shares" of a fake meme and slow its cancerous spread.

     So, why are these fake memes created so often? There isn't a single reason, but I believe there are some categories that handle most.

     Note that these categories apply to those who create fake memes. They are aware that they are false -- or that they express things for which there is no proof.

• Immaturity. People take pride in seeing their lies spread across the Internet. They can tell themselves, and friends, "I did that". It is analogous to arson -- setting fires just to see them burn and spread.
  
  
• Hatred. People have hatreds. They may hate people, movements, companies, organizations, religious groups, political parties, people with special attributes, countries, people with blue eyes, whatever. It would be wonderful to have a world without hatreds -- but we haven't reached that point yet. People who hate want others to hate also -- it makes them feel as if their hatred is rational. So, whatever they can say (occasionally true, often false) that can incite hatred in others to legitimize their hatred is "good".
  
  
• Profit. There have been a number of "exposé" articles about people who have websites to churn out fake memes and messages. These sites have "click-through" advertising links that bring them income (sometimes a lot of income -- in the hundreds of thousands of dollars).
  
  Sometimes the income comes from governmental or private organizations. The sites are used to promote the organization's agenda. These sponsored sites often have teams of trolls to spread their misinformation and incite screaming matches rather than constructive discussion.
  
  
• Political. This certainly includes one political party doing the traditional activity of saying bad things (sometimes true, often not) about the other. But it also includes countries with dictatorships who want to consolidate their power by hiding what is really happening within the country.
  
  It includes groups of people hired by governments to foment trouble within other countries. As the saying goes, "United we Stand, Divided we Fall". Alas, there are always governments wanting other governments, and their people, weaker. Domestically, creating an atmosphere of fear and anger is a great tool for groups wanting to manipulate people.

     Fake memes would be no trouble if people recognized them for what they were. They would be humorous -- considered to be irony and satire and part of the genre of literature from MAD magazine to the Onion.

     Alas, many people find the fake memes all too easily incorporated into their beliefs without bothering to see if they are true. And the more fake memes that are incorporated, the wider the boundaries of belief get as the fake memes get farther and farther away from any tentpoles of reality.

     If people want to stop this creation of new realities, then they can choose to do fact checking when they encounter memes, tweets, posts, newsletters, or emails. It is true that doing fact-checking takes more time and effort than just believing, or rejecting, them. Fact checking can also be very, very hard to accept when the facts differ from existing beliefs. Rejection of facts is much more comfortable than a re-evaluation of beliefs.

     If people want to check facts, there are various places (Berkeley's list of fact-checking sites) to help you in your efforts. If you don't trust any of the existing fact-checking sites then you can learn to do your own fact checking. The Poynter Institute for Media Studies offers a number of courses -- some free, others for fairly low fees.

     After checking, there are often more than two possible verdicts -- a spectrum from "you have to be kidding false" to "yes that is completely true".  Some are out of context such that they sound real but really aren't. Some are true in "broad strokes" but have poor numbers and statistics. A person can choose to pass along a verified meme -- perhaps with comments to better explain them. That is of great value. I would hope that the recognition of "I did that" would feel better for a spread of something verified true than from creation of a fake meme.

     Fake memes are far from harmless but they can be dealt with -- with hard work.