Snopes
 | |
Type of site | Reference pages |
|---|---|
| Owner | Barbara and David P. Mikkelson |
| Created by | Barbara and David P. Mikkelson |
| URL | http://www.snopes.com/ |
| Commercial | Supported by advertisements and contributions from readers |
| Registration | Required only on forums |
Snopes Hi Bill Matthews(Template:PronEng), also known as the Urban Legends Reference Pages, is a web site that is the best-known resource for validating and debunking urban legends, Internet rumors, e-mail forwards, and other such stories of uncertain or questionable origin in American popular culture.[1] Snopes is run by Barbara and David Mikkelson, a California couple who met on the alt.folklore.urban newsgroup. The Mikkelsons also founded the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society, and were credited as the owners of the site until 2005.[2] The site is organized according to topic and includes a message board where stories and pictures of questionable veracity may be posted.
History
David Mikkelson used the username "snopes" (the name of a family of often unpleasant people in the works of William Faulkner)[3][4] in the Usenet newsgroup alt.folklore.urban.[5] Barbara Hamel was also a prolific poster. The Mikkelsons created the site in 1995.[6] Barbara and David now work on the site full time. [4][6]
Main site
Snopes aims to debunk or confirm widely spread urban legends. The site has been referenced by news media and other sites, including CNN,[7] FOX news,[8] MSNBC[9] and Australia's ABC on its 'Media Watch' program. Folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand considers the site so comprehensive as to obviate the necessity for launching one of his own.[6] Snopes' popular standing is such that some chain e-mail hoaxes claim to have been "checked out on 'Snopes.com'" in an attempt to discourage readers from seeking verification.[10] As of March 2009, the site has around 6.2 million visitors per month.[11]
Snopes directs people to more information about various hoaxes, especially in regard to chain e-mails. The Mikkelsons have stressed the reference portion of the name Urban Legends Reference Pages, indicating that their intention is not merely to dismiss or confirm misconceptions and rumors but to provide evidence for such debunkings and confirmations as well.[12] Although they claim to research their topics heavily and provide references when possible, not all of their sources (especially personal interviews, phone calls, or e-mails) are fully verifiable. Where appropriate, pages are generally marked "undetermined" or "unverifiable" if the Mikkelsons feel there is not enough evidence to either support or disprove a given claim.
"Lost Legends"
In an attempt to demonstrate the perils of overreliance on authority, the Mikkelsons created a series of fabricated urban folklore tales that they term The Repository of Lost Legends.[13] (The name was chosen for its acronym, T.R.O.L.L., a reference to the early 1990s definition of the word troll to mean an Internet prank, of which David Mikkelson was a prominent practitioner.[5])
One fictional legend averred that the children's nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpence" was really a coded reference used by pirates to recruit members. (This parodied a real false legend surrounding "Ring Around the Rosie"'s link to the bubonic plague.) Although the creators were sure that no one could believe a tale so ridiculous — and had added a link[14] at the bottom of the page to another page explaining the hoax, and a message with the ratings reading "Note: Any relationship between these ratings and reality is purely coincidental." — eventually the legend was featured as true in an urban legends board game and TV show.[15]
Other
In 2007, the Snopes site featured pop-up ads for the controversial Zango adware product.[16][17] Snopes stopped serving the ads in January 2008, after criticism from tech sites, security experts and users.[18]
A television pilot based on the site called Snopes: Urban Legends was completed with Jim Davidson as host, but major networks passed on the project.[4] Another TV show, Mostly True Stories: Urban Legends Revealed, was shown to have been using information from Snopes when one of Snopes' invented "lost legends" appeared on the program as true.[5]
See also
References
- ^ Neil Henry, American Carnival: Journalism Under Siege in an Age of New Media (University of California Press 2007), p. 285.
- ^ "Messageboard post". snopes.com.
- ^ "Urban Legends Reference Pages: (Frequently Asked Questions)". snopes.com. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
What are 'snopes'?
- ^ a b c Paul Bond (2002-09-07). "Web site separates fact from urban legend". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ a b c See Michele Tepper, "Usenet Communities and the Cultural Politics of Information" in David Porter, ed., Culture (1997) at 48 ("[T]he two most notorious trollers in AFU, Ted Frank and snopes, are also two of the most consistent posters of serious research.").
- ^ a b c Cathy Seipp (2004-07-21). "Where Urban Legends Fall". National Review Online.
- ^ CNN.com - Hear the rumor? Nostradamus and other tall tales - October 3, 2001
- ^ FOXNews.com - Teens Abusing Energy-Boosting Drinks, Doctors Fear - Health News | Current Health News | Medical News
- ^ Urban Legends Banned-April Fools'! - ConsumerMan - MSNBC.com
- ^ "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Who Is Barack Obama?". Retrieved 22 January2008.
- ^ Reader's Digest: "Rumor Detectives: True Story or Online Hoax?". Retrieved 10 March2009.
- ^ "Urban Legends Reference Pages: (Frequently Asked Questions)". (Re "How do I know the information you've presented is accurate?") Retrieved June 9, 2006.
- ^ "Urban Legends Reference Page: Lost Legends". Retrieved 9 June 2006.
- ^ "Urban Legends Reference Page: Lost Legends (False Authority)". Retrieved 9 June 2006.
- ^ "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Humor (Mostly True Stories)". Retrieved 20 June 2006.
- ^ "Not an urban legend: Snopes pushes Zango" - Sunbelt Blog, January 28, 2008
- ^ "Snopes peddling malware?" - TechSpot, January 28, 2008
- ^ "Snopes.com stops serving adware". CIO. Retrieved 2009-03-03.