“Man suffers heart attack, dies at work, coworkers gather for groupie selfie thinking he’d fallen asleep,” the text reads.
A reverse image search reveals that the meme’s photo has been circulating online for four years. In February 2016 it was posted on a Reddit discussion forum by the user TheOrangeDuke with the subject “TIFU by falling asleep at the job on my second day.”
The photo was later deleted because it violated one of the Reddit forum’s rules. But it had already gone viral, being reused in a range of memes and photoshopped images.
Was the man really dead, or just sleeping? We checked.
Intern at software company
TheOrangeDuke’s real name is Eduard Paraschivescu. In 2016 he was a student intern at the Canadian software company Gsoft.
Soon after the photo went viral, Paraschivescu reportedly told CBS News: “One of the associates noticed me sleeping. And it just went downhill from there.”
He added: “It doesn’t really bother me. I’m not naked, I’m not getting shamed. I’m just surrounded by amazing people who are having a blast.”
On 22 January 2020, a user asked Paraschivescu on Reddit: “How many times does this need to be posted before everyone learns it is fake?”
TheOrangeDuke responded: “Hey, to be honest - I did fall asleep, not dead, but the photo ain't fake.” – Butchie Seroto
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
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Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Further Reading
‘A time of crisis’: fact-checking South African president Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2023 state of the nation address
As he tried to reignite the enthusiasm of a wearied nation, did the president get his facts right? As we found out, it's all in the details.
[email protected]: The challenges of working across Africa
Misinformation knows no borders and Africa Check often responds to similar false claims from country to country.
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