This viral photo of George R.R. Martin looking like 'Game of Thrones' actor Kit Harington might not be real

The INSIDER Summary:

• A meme comparing "young George R.R. Martin" with Jon Snow actor Kit Harington is going viral.
• But that's definitely not a yearbook photo of Martin.
• We know this because Martin has uploaded his real yearbook photos in the past.
• There's no trace of it anywhere except in meme form.
• Martin did look like Harington when he was younger, though.

Everyone loves a good "Game of Thrones" meme, but don't believe everything you see on the internet.

An old side-by-side image of "Game of Thrones" actor Kit Harington next to a supposed photo of "A Song of Ice and Fire" author George R.R. Martin is going viral again. However, we've done the research and it's almost certainly not a real picture of Martin.

BuzzFeed's Global News Director Ryan Broderick tweeted the meme on August 24, quickly racking up more than 28,000 retweets and 70,000 likes.

This meme made the rounds on Reddit and Imgur in July, but it found new life on Twitter after Broderick re-shared it.

When we went looking for the original source, the "yearbook" photo of Martin was nowhere to be found. The only results for the photo were the meme, which is usually captioned to indicate Martin is keeping Jon Snow alive in the books because he looks like him.

Martin's official website contains a autobiographical blog section, including a look back at his high school years. In two school portraits of Martin in his teen years, he's clean-shaven and has short cropped hair. You can see for yourself at the bottom of this web page.

Martin has shared pictures of himself from the '70s, often rocking a shaggy beard and longer curled hair (never blown out like that "yearbook" photo). But yes, he did look similar to Harington when he was younger:

Martin was born in 1948, so the above two photos were taken when he was in his mid-to-late 20s. That is not a time of your life when you're often photographed in yearbook-esque poses. 

Based on the lack of results in Google's reverse-image search, we're guessing the meme was Photoshopped by a fan who realized Martin did look like Harington and just wanted to drive the point home. They certainly share the same curled hair and beard, and even both wear glasses. But that doesn't mean the original meme is real.

So stay vigilant, "Game of Thrones" fans. The internet is dark and full of fake memes.

SEE ALSO: Here's what 'Game of Thrones' characters were up to in season one and what they're up to now

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