> "...unbeknownst to most Americans, the alt-right has appropriated a version of the “okay” symbol for their own purposes because it looks like the initials for

> "...unbeknownst to most Americans, the alt-right has appropriated a version of the “okay” symbol for their own purposes because it looks like the initials for “white power”; this is the symbol the man accused Cafferty of making when his hand was dangling out of his truck. [...] Repeatedly asked whether they had any evidence that Cafferty was a white supremacist, had known the meaning of the inverted “okay” symbol, or had previously been reprimanded for his performance, SDG&E refused to answer." The article suggests Cafferty made the inverted Ok hand gesture, because he was being lazy with his arm hanging outside of his truck. If you believe Cafferty (and for the record I find it entirely plausible), then his casual expression was misinterpreted by a narrow community (the man's twitter followers), who in turn lobbied SDG&E to fire the employee. WOW! Remember when the internet was the place where you could find your own community of like minded individuals, because living in society in the physical you just can't make the numbers? Second, it seems Cafferty accidentally made the wrong hand gesture to the wrong person. This reminds me of classic stories of gang violence, where an unsuspecting outsider walks into a community and their mode of dress has encoded meaning--leading to a violent response. Memes appear on the scene, and some take hold (I heart NY) and stick around, and others die out. variation-replication-selection, repeat.