WWW.SNOPES.COM: But My Friend's Cousin's Friend Swears It Happened To Her!
Written: Oct 23 '01 (Updated Jun 04 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great site for de-bunking urban legends
Cons: sometimes the information is inaccurate
The Bottom Line: Before you hit that FORWARD button, visit this site to find out whether or not you've been the victim of an elaborate hoax.
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| AliventiAsylum's Full Review: WWW Site Reviews |
As soon as I get an email warning me to be careful about something, be it heroin needles in the ball pit at McDonalds or going to the mall on Halloween, the first site I head for is WWW.SNOPES.COM.
The site is titled The Urban Legends Reference Page and it handles all of that. It seems that more rumors have been swirling around since the events of September 11, 2001 than ever before, but SNOPES has been around for a very long time.
Here, there is an attempt to get behind the truth or falsehoods surrounding the current round of emails going around on the web. Come on, you didn't really believe Bill Gates was going to send you to Disney World, did you??
The search engine on the home page works great. Just type in a word or two from the suspicious email, and it will deliver links to stories on the site about the rumors. The articles at the links will usually give you a True or False statement, but sometimes they are undetermined. At times the rumors are so old and have been swirling around for so long that it is impossible to ascertain whether or not there is validity behind them.
There is a message board at the site to discuss the various rumors that are circulating. I don't frequent them, but use the site as a reference to debunk some of the rumors out there.
SNOPES also lets you email any article to someone - which is great for sending the truth back to the person who just sent you the email. A few of those, and chances are they won't be bothering you anymore.
My own experience one time was that they can be inaccurate. Back about a year or so ago, a group I participate in discovered that there was an EGROUP dedicated to Child Porn. A few people actually entered the group to check it out for themselves before sending out emails asking people to contact EGROUPS. Well, SNOPES came along and painted the rumor as False because this occurred over the weekend and EGROUPS pulled the group a few days later.
The home page changes to the season and what topics are hot at the current time.
Rumors of War
This section discusses the various rumors to come out of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States of America. We have rumors such as:
Ironing your mail will kill any anthrax spores (False)
Budweiser employee pulls stock from shelves after entering a convenience store to find two Arabs whooping & hollering (False)
Bert - the Sesame Street muppet - appears on posters carried by supporters of Osama Bin Laden (True)
Actor James Woods observed and reported four hijackers making a trial run on an airline flight before the September 11 terrorist attacks on America. (True)
Thirty Ryder, Verizon, and U-Haul trucks have been stolen recently, presumably by terrorists who will use them in the ongoing attack on America. (False)
And many, many, many, many many more.
Military
This section deals with the myths and truths that circulate regularly about the military. We have rumors such as:
The number of hooves lifted into the air on equestrian statues reveals how the riders died. (False)
Fighting on opposite sides, father and son meet one last time on a Civil War battlefield. Found in the dying boy's pocket is the melody now known as Taps. (False)
Saltpeter is secreted in the food or drink of enlisted men. (False)
Halloween
This deals with the rumors and legends that surround this specific time of year.
An accidental Halloween hanging. (True)
Razor blades in Halloween treats. (True)
Psychic predicts a Halloween murder on a college campus. (False)
Critter Country
This section tells about all the things that are rumored to have happened involving animals. Rumors include:
Bride dies from snake bite while posing for wedding photos in botanical garden. (False)
Three school janitors blow up their shed trying to kill a gopher. (True)
Dog dies when it bites down on tennis ball bomb. (True)
Business
Competing with the events of September 11, 2001,is the business section. It appears to be just about as large. Rumors include:
Bill Ripken's 1989 Fleer baseball card includes a hidden obscenity. (True)
An early experiment in subliminal advertising resulted in a movie theater's increased sales of popcorn and Coke. (False)
Corona beer contains urine. (False)
The athletic shoe Adidas gained its name from an acronym for 'All Day I Dream About Sex.' (False)
Pregnancy
Anyone who's hung around any parenting groups on the Internet has probably come across some of these rumors:
Pregnant woman is accused of trying to shoplift a basketball. (True)
Girl is impregnated by sperm in a swimming pool. (False)
Woman sues pharmacy after eating contraceptive jelly fails to prevent pregnancy. (False)
There are a lot more categories such as Horror, Disney (I'll give you a hint - Walt isn't cryogenically frozen under The Castle!), History, Weddings, Wooden Spoon, Radio and Television, Humor, Love, Titanic, Language, Toxin du Jour, Religion, College, Music, Inboxer Rebellion, Quotes, Cokelore, Movies, Lost Legends, Glurge Gallery, Automobiles,Christmas, Travel, Sex, and Science.
This is one of my favorite sites. Sometimes I just browse around and read the stories there. Some of the ones that turn out to be true are hard to believe! It is entertaining and fun.
© 2001 Patti Aliventi
Recommended:
Yes
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Member: Patti Aliventi
Location: Mount Washington Valley, New Hampshire
Reviews written: 2102
Trusted by: 690 members
About Me:
Now writing reviews to pay for the "out of network" costs of our health insurance...
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