No one seems to know why the social media giant Facebook decided to dig up the corpse of renowned country music star Merle Haggard, who died in 2016 at the age of 79, only to kill him again. But that’s exactly what happened the morning of Friday, April 10th.
Early that day, posts mourning the passing of the already four-years-gone star began popping up on news feeds. “RIP Merle,” read a post by one Facebook user who wished to remain anonymous. When asked to comment on the mistake, they said, “Well, 2016, 2020, what’s the difference? He’s dead, and I still want him to rest in peace. I hope he’s singin’ and a-pickin’ in heaven, ‘a place where even squares can have a ball,’ am I right?”
Perhaps the misinformation was an attempt to replicate the same kind of surge in posts generated by the recent passing of singer/songwriter John Prine, who died at 73 on April 7th after contracting COVID-19. Prine was a hero to many left-leaning fans of country and folk music, and some experts suggest that the “Merle Haggard hack” is an attempt to engender a similar outpouring of sympathy by right-leaning listeners who misunderstood the lyrics to Haggard’s satirical song “Okie From Muskogee.”
Others hypothesize that the posts are being shared because people who have been sheltering in place for weeks have developed Quarantine Psychosis, a condition whose symptoms include an inability to keep track of time, the sudden sharing of personal information online, and an unexplainable desire to binge-watch tiger-themed true crime documentaries.
Some experts warn that David Bowie and Prince could be the social media giant’s next targets for brief reincarnation.
Look, in all seriousness, this is an election year and we’re in the middle of a global pandemic. Check your sources, and check article dates. Everyone from Russian bots to your racist uncle and that high school dropout who swears chemtrails cause autism are going to be spreading misinformation. Let’s not do their work for them.
