How Engagement Memes Leverage Your Better Angels for All the Wrong Reasons

How many of these questionable stories have you fallen for, and what was the cost?

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

I was flipping through Facebook the other day when I came across a photo of a smiling centenarian cutting a big, beautiful birthday cake.

Margaret Fribbins in 2010 (Source: The Sutton and Croyden Guardian)

Accompanying the (then uncredited photo) were the following words:

Her name is Margaret. Today She’s 104 years old.
Nobody congratulated her, because she don’t have anyone... she’s alone...
Congratulate her please... If you don’t mind...🎂👑🔵🤩🎄🔴🌏🎉😍☎️🎊🎁🥰❤🎈🎀🙏 Thank you!
Trust me! You’re missing a lot if you haven’t 👉👉 JOlN OUR GROUP LAUGH WITH GRANNIES

You’ve seen this type of thing before, but did you realize it’s usually a scam? The scam artist harvests a picture off of the internet (without permission or attribution) to inspire sympathy in the viewer. The con artist spins a woeful tale and includes a call to action for comments, likes, and shares.

Often, it’s about abused animals, or homeless veterans. Sometimes it’s a story about how a person down on their luck…