Tributary

Let’s do our research together.

Trace how information flows through the internet. Find where ideas come from, who amplifies them, and how narratives spread.

Upstream · Where a claim comes from

Trace a claim back to its earliest recorded use — who said it first, who amplified it, how the wording changed on the way, with a dated, linked receipt on every hop.

Trace a claim to its origin

e.g. “carrots improve your eyesight” — finds who said it first and who amplified it, with a dated receipt on every hop. Not traced yet? One click to request (~5–10 min).

Downstream · How narratives spread around an event

Map one event into the competing framings forming around it — what each emphasizes, what it leaves out, and who carries it.

Map how an event’s coverage splits

e.g. “the Cyclospora food recall” — shows the competing framings forming around one event and who carries each. Not mapped yet? One click to request (~5–10 min).

Examples · what you get

A narrative trace
“Carrots improve your eyesight.”
First recorded: British Ministry of Agriculture, December 1940 (wartime messaging during the Blitz) · Carried by: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Popular Science · Examined by: Sunday Telegraph, Scientific American, McGill University · The idea is older: documented from 1904 (Masamichi Mori)
1940 1960 1980 2000 today First recorded — UK Ministry of Agriculture, 1940 Press fact-checks begin — Sunday Telegraph, 2003 still circulating
13 recorded uses 1940–2025 · 17 social sightings 2014–2026 · a dated receipt on every hop open the full trace →

Politics gets the same treatment as folk claims like this one. Trace your own claim with the search box above, or browse every published trace →

An event analysis
A parasite in the US food supply — 5 competing framings
COMMON GROUND Cyclospora parasites were detected in U.S.-distributed food products, likely linked to a Mexican supplier (Taylor Farms), and that this represents a multi-state public health incident. Public Health Emergency & Consumer Safety How sick are people, what foods are dangerous, and what should the public do right now? Government Accountability & Budget Cuts Did federal funding cuts and staffing reductions weaken the food safety system and slow the outbreak response? Supply Chain & Corporate Accountability How did a single large produce supplier and fast-food chain allow contaminated food to reach consumers across 27+ states? RFK Jr. / MAHA Political Stress Test Does this outbreak validate or undermine RFK Jr.'s 'Make America Healthy Again' agenda and his management of HHS? Imported Produce & Cross-Border Food Safety Does the repeated linkage of Cyclospora outbreaks to Mexican-grown produce reveal a structural failure in import safety standards?
framing boundaries are AI judgments · carriers and receipts on the full analysis open the full analysis →
Do you have unique insight into where information originates? Add a human contribution!

Every trace page has an “Add what we missed” form: add a use we missed, suggest a correction to a role, date, or attribution — or move an origin earlier than we found it. Approved contributions publish on the trace itself, credited to you.