You Won't Believe What I Just Heard!

I got another one. Those warnings your friends pass on to you that bring very important information for your well-being! Information such as - your cell phone number is going to be given to telemarketers, and you have just days to contact the national “do not call” center. Or, that a new Pepsi soda can design omits the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.

What do you do? Do you become outraged and wonder what the world is coming to as you forward the warning to your 50 closest friends? Or do you think – “Ummm, is that really true?” Well, if the latter is what you would do then there is a place where you can go for the answer. It is the website www.snopes.com.

According to Wikipedia, Barbara and David Mikkelson started the Snopes site in 1995. It was named after a family of often unpleasant people who show up in the works of William Faulkner. Barbara and David work full-time on the site now. It has become a trusted resource for validating and debunking urban legends, Internet rumors and other stories of uncertain origin. The site is organized according to topic and includes a message board where stories and pictures of questionable veracity may be posted. Snopes goal is to debunk or confirm widely spread urban legends. The site has been referenced by news media including CNN, FOX News and MSNBC. The Mikkelsons intention is not just to dismiss or confirm misconceptions and rumors but to provide evidence for such a decision. Even though they try to get to the root of a legend sometimes they cannot fully verify the information, and will have to label the story "unverifiable" or "undetermined". As of March 2009, the site draws around 6.2 million visitors per month. So the next time you get a message that will save your life – check it out at snopes.com!

Contributed by Jean Williams