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"Fake Vets" and Viral Lies: Personal Narrative in a Post-Truth Era
- Journal of American Folklore
- American Folklore Society
- Volume 131, Number 522, Fall 2018
- pp. 500-508
- Article
- Additional Information
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Abstract:
"Stolen valor" confrontations calling out "fake vets" have generated a popular genre of viral video, a highly concentrated and visible expression of contemporary anxieties over the commodification of identity online. The boom in first-person stories, particularly traumatic ones, has oversaturated the attention economy of the internet, creating a market for fakes that real veterans can't criticize without challenging the authenticity of their own stories.