Collection

Is Wendy's Closing All Locations, as Announced in Late 2023?

An ode to some of the internet's most bizarre rumors.

by Izz Scott LaMagdeleine, Nov. 24, 2023


 (Izz LaMagdeleine/Snopes)

Image courtesy of Izz LaMagdeleine/Snopes


The past year was a big one for Snopes. Under new company ownership, we added several new members to the team (including the writer of this collection) and reported on topics that ranged from former U.S. President Donald Trump's indictments to gobs of celebrity death hoaxes. As we head into the new year, we wanted to look back and highlight the stories that received the most page views on our website in 2023.

We found many of our most popular stories involved misleading clickbait advertisements or rumors surrounding Facebook. The ideas for several fact-checks on the list came directly from readers like you — thank you!

Going forward, we'll continue to prioritize bringing context and clarity to the wildest claims on the internet. The 2024 presidential election is approaching, and we plan to cover the endless falsehoods that will surely arise. In order to do so, we need your help. If you found our work useful this year, please consider becoming a member — a key foundation of our sustainability and resilience.

Here's the list of top stories in reverse order. Scroll to the bottom to find our most popular story of 2023:


By Izz Scott LaMagdeleine

Izz Scott LaMagdeleine is a fact-checker for Snopes.

A Facebook hoax claimed that to regain friends in your news feed and get rid of ads, copy and paste some text into a post to upgrade the system, then say hello new and old friends.

Facebook Hoax Promises Way 'To Regain Friends and Get Rid of Ads'

Oct. 20, 2022

If only "copypasta" worked that way.

Read More


Is Temu Shopping App a Communist China-Based Scam That Spies on Users?

June 5, 2023

Temu offers seemingly too-good-to-be-true deals on a massive range of products, but the app and ...

Read More


Person, Human, Face

Did Prostitute Gerda Puridle Invent Fake Eyelashes To, Umm... Protect Her Eyes?

Feb. 3, 2021

WARNING: This history lesson begins with a decidely NSFW meme.

Read More


Cracker Barrel is not closing all restaurants and store locations, going bankrupt or going out of business for other reasons, despite ads seen on Facebook and Instagram.

Is Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Closing All Locations, as Announced in 2023?

Nov. 8, 2023

Investing.com appeared to report in late 2023 via Facebook ads that Cracker Barrel Old Country S ...

Read More


An aerial view of Walt Disney World shows people in the park near a large castle.

Is Disney World Moving to Georgia?

April 25, 2023

A fictional story claimed the theme park was relocating from Orlando, Florida, to Atlanta, with ...

Read More


Whoopi Goldberg 'Panics After Losing Everything' in Lawsuit Brought by Jason Aldean?

Aug. 7, 2023

"It appears Whoopi Goldberg has gotten herself into another controversy," the Just In celebrity ...

Read More


A phone that says Facebook is next to the Facebook logo.

Is Facebook Set To Begin Charging $4.99 Per Month?

June 14, 2023

Snopes has encountered this false claim before. Repeatedly.

Read More


'Amazon Got Hacked': Viral Rumor Says Criminals Added Fake Locker Addresses to Accounts

Dec. 8, 2023

By email, a spokesperson for Amazon told Snopes that the issue was an "error" and that they were ...

Read More


Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro never tweeted look how beautiful my sister looks nor did he tweet about fantasizing about a hot sister.

Did Ben Shapiro Tweet About a 'Hot' and 'Beautiful' Sister?

March 23, 2022

We looked for the origins of two supposed tweets where the conservative commentator mentioned hi ...

Read More


A rumor in Facebook and Instagram ads claimed that Wendy's was going to be closing all restaurant locations, going out of business or going bankrupt.

Is Wendy's Closing All Locations, as Announced in Late 2023?

Nov. 24, 2023

Websites appeared to report in late 2023 via Facebook and Instagram ads that Wendy's had plans t ...

Read More



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