You are scrolling through your feed when a screenshot appears showing a public figure saying something surprising or controversial. Within minutes, it is everywhere. Some are angry, others defend it, memes parody it, and arguments spread across platforms.

Later, you discover the person never quite said that exact quote. The words came from a longer interview, the clip was shortened or an incorrect caption was added. But the screenshot has travelled faster and further than the original video ever did. What people reacted to was a version of the message created through circulation, rather than the message as originally delivered. Sound familiar? This pattern can be seen across nearly every viral moment, from political speeches to celebrity interviews.

Research in media and communication studies has long shown that meaning rarely remains fixed once a message enters circulation.

My work examines how these small shifts accumulate as messages move through digital environments. I describe this process as “message drift”, where content becomes separated from its original context as it is clipped, reposted and reframed across digital platforms.

Message drift rarely occurs in a single dramatic moment. Rather, it emerges through a series of small transformations. Evidence suggests this is driven both by limited user attention, and by platforms that prioritise........

© The Conversation