If you paid attention to your social media feeds Thursday and early Friday, you might have noticed condolences for actors Ruby Dee and Rue McClanahan.
There were so many R.I.P.-themed messages, both women were trending on Facebook and Twitter.
There was just one problem with the social media tributes.
Dee of A Raisin in the Sun fame died June 11, 2014; McClanahan, who played Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls, died June 3, 2010.
The delayed condolences were usually accompanied by links to original stories noting their deaths.
June 12, 2014, is clearly marked at the top of this New York Times story about Dee's death.
This CBS News story about McClanahan's death is dated June 3, 2010.
So why did their deaths go viral Thursday?
A Washington Post report published in 2014 — another instance when McClanahan's death went viral — explained it this way:
On June 3, the anniversary of McClanahan’s death, a handful of fans — like the popular Golden Girls fan account @Blanche1934 — tweeted memorials for Rue. @Blanche1934 has nearly 15,000 followers and a spot-on understanding of when McClanahan died. But on Twitter, a platform not exactly long on context, people began to truncate the original messages. “RIP Rue 6/3/2010!!!” became “R.I.P. Rue.” “R.I.P. Rue” became, predictably, “oh my God Blanche died.”
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