Wikipedia - Benutzerbeiträge [de]

Snopes

2010-04-19T22:08:54Z

207.200.21.3: /* Reception */

{{redirect|Snopes|the trilogy by William Faulkner|Snopes trilogy}}
{{Infobox Website
| name = Urban Legends Reference Pages (snopes.com)
| logo = [[Image:Snopes logo.png|Snopes logo|200px]]
| url = http://www.snopes.com/
| type = Reference pages
| commercial = Yes
| registration = Required only on forums
| owner = Barbara and David P. Mikkelson
| author = Barbara and David P. Mikkelson
}}
'''Snopes.com''' ({{pronEng|ˈsnoʊps}}), officially the '''Urban Legends Reference Pages''', is a [[web site]] discussing [[urban legend]]s, Internet rumors, e-mail forwards, and other stories of uncertain or questionable origin.<ref>[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4819108 Snopes.com: Debunking Myths in Cyberspace] [[National Public Radio]] August 27, 2005</ref> It is the best-known resource for validating and debunking such stories in American popular culture.<ref>Neil Henry, ''American Carnival: Journalism Under Siege in an Age of New Media'' (University of California Press 2007), p. 285.</ref>

Snopes is run by Barbara and David Mikkelson,<ref>{{cite web|url = http://snopes.com|title=Snopes|publisher = snopes.com}}</ref> a [[California]] couple who met on the alt.folklore.urban [[newsgroup]].<ref name="nyt100405"/> The site is organized according to topic and includes a message board where stories and pictures of questionable veracity may be posted. The Mikkelsons also founded the [[San Fernando Valley]] Folklore Society, and were credited as the owners of the site until 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://msgboard.snopes.com/message/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=55;t=000490|publisher = snopes.com|title = Messageboard post}}</ref>

==History==
David Mikkelson used the username "snopes" (the name of a family of often unpleasant people in the works of [[William Faulkner]])<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.snopes.com/info/faq.asp#snopes |title = Frequently Asked Questions|quote = What are 'snopes'?|publisher = Snopes|accessdate = 2006-06-09}}</ref><ref name=Chron>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/09/07/DD242504.DTL |date=2002-09-07 |first=Paul |last=Bond |work=San Francisco Chronicle |title=Web site separates fact from urban legend}}</ref> in the [[Usenet]] newsgroup alt.folklore.urban.<ref name=Porter>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.").</ref> Barbara Hamel was also a prolific poster. The Mikkelsons created the Snopes site in 1995.<ref name=Seipp/> Barbara and David now work on the site full time.<ref name="nyt100405"/><ref name=Chron/><ref name=Seipp>{{cite web
|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/seipp/seipp200407210830.asp|date=2004-07-21|author=[[Cathy Seipp]]|title=Where Urban Legends Fall
|publisher=[[National Review Online]]}}</ref> A television pilot based on the site called ''Snopes: Urban Legends'' was completed with American actor [[Jim Davidson (actor)|Jim Davidson]] as host, but major networks passed on the project.<ref name=Chron/>

==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]],<ref>{{cite web|author=Beth Nissen |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/10/03/rec.false.rumors/index.html |title=CNN.com - Hear the rumor? Nostradamus and other tall tales |publisher=Archives.cnn.com |date=2001-10-03 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref> [[FOX news]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,226223,00.html |title=Teens Abusing Energy-Boosting Drinks, Doctors Fear - Health News | Current Health News | Medical News |publisher=FOXNews.com |date=2006-10-31 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref> [[MSNBC]]<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17798063/ |title=Urban Legends Banned-April Fools'! |publisher=[[MSNBC]] |date=2007-04-01 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref> and Australia's [[ABC Television|ABC]] on its '[[Media Watch (TV program)|Media Watch]]' program. Snopes's 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.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Who Is Barack Obama?"]. Retrieved 22 January 2008.</ref> As of March 2009, the site has around 6.2 million visitors per month.<ref>[http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/rumor-detectives-true-story-or-online-hoax/article122216.html Reader's Digest: "Rumor Detectives: True Story or Online Hoax?"]. Retrieved 10 March 2009.</ref>

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.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/info/faq.asp "Urban Legends Reference Pages: (Frequently Asked Questions)"]. (Re "How do I know the information you've presented is accurate?".) Retrieved June 9, 2006.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/roundrock.asp |title = Round Rock Gangs|publisher = Snopes|accessdate = 2009-05-03}}</ref> The Mikkelsons say many of the urban legends are mistakenly attributed because of common problems associated with e-mail signatures.<ref>[http://www.congress.org/news/2009/11/30/six_tips_from_snopescom_on_emails Six tips from Snopes.com on e-mails]. Congress.org, Nov. 30, 2009. </ref>

==Lost Legends==
In an attempt to demonstrate the perils of over-reliance on authority, the Mikkelsons assembled a series of fabricated urban folklore tales that they term ''The Repository of Lost Legends''.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/lost/lost.htm "Urban Legends Reference Page: Lost Legends"]. Retrieved 9 June 2006.</ref> (The name was chosen for its acronym, T.R.O.L.L., a reference to the early 1990s definition of the word ''[[Internet troll|troll]]'' to mean an Internet prank, of which David Mikkelson was a prominent practitioner.<ref name=Porter/>)

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 the supposed connection of "[[Ring Around the Rosie]]" to the [[bubonic plague]]. Although the creators were sure that no one could believe a tale so ridiculous — and had added a link<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/lost/false.htm "Urban Legends Reference Page: Lost Legends (False Authority)"]. Retrieved 9 June 2006.</ref> 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 television show.<ref name=TVshow>[http://www.snopes.com/humor/mediagoofs/sixpence.asp "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Humor (Mostly True Stories)"]. Retrieved 20 June 2006.</ref> The television 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.<ref name=Porter/>

==Reception==
Snopes has received praise from folklorist [[Jan Harold Brunvand]], who considers the site so comprehensive as to obviate the necessity for launching one of his own.<ref name=Seipp/>

In 2007, the Snopes site featured [[pop-up ad]]s for the controversial [[Zango (company)|Zango]] adware product.<ref>[http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/not-urban-legend-snopes-pushes-zango.html "Not an urban legend: Snopes pushes Zango"] - [[Sunbelt Software|Sunbelt]] Blog, January 28, 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.techspot.com/news/28789-snopes-peddling-malware.html "Snopes peddling malware?"] - [[TechSpot]], January 28, 2008</ref> Snopes stopped serving the ads in January 2008, after criticism from tech sites, security experts and users.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cio.de/news/cio_worldnews/849389/index1.html|title=Snopes.com stops serving adware|work=CIO|accessdate=2009-03-03}}</ref>

Snopes receives more complaints that it is too liberal than that it is too conservative, but insists that it applies the same debunking standards to all political stories.<ref name="nyt100405"/> [[FactCheck]] reviewed a sample of Snopes' responses to political rumors regarding [[George W. Bush]], [[Sarah Palin]] and [[Barack Obama]], and found them to be free from bias in all cases. FactCheck noted that Barbara Mikkelson was a Canadian citizen (and thus unable to vote in American elections) and David Mikkelson was an independent who was once a registered Republican.<ref name="nyt100405"/> "You’d be hard-pressed to find two more apolitical people," David Mikkelson told them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/is_snopescom_run_by_very_democratic_proprietors.html |title=Snopes.com |publisher= [[FactCheck]] |date=2009-04-01 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/40861/|title=Fact-checking the fact-checkers: Snopes.com gets an 'A'|publisher=[[Network World]]|date=April 13, 2009}}</ref>Of Course David Mikkelson has been known to tell half truths as shown in snopes editorials

==See also==
* ''[[MythBusters]]''
* ''[[The Straight Dope]]''
* ''[[FactCheck.org]]''
* ''[[The Skeptic's Dictionary]]''

== References ==
{{reflist|2|refs=
<ref name="nyt100405">{{cite news |author=[[Brian Stelter]] |work=[[New York Times]] |title=Debunkers of Fictions Sift the Net |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/technology/05snopes.html |date=April 4, 2010 |accessdate=April 5, 2010}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
* [http://www.snopes.com/ Snopes.com]

[[Category:Internet properties established in 1995]]
[[Category:Educational websites]]
[[Category:Skeptic multimedia]]
[[Category:Skeptics]]
[[Category:Urban legends]]

[[bg:Urban Legends Reference Pages]]
[[es:Snopes]]
[[id:Snopes]]
[[it:Snopes]]
[[pl:Snopes.com]]
[[fi:Snopes]]

Snopes

2010-04-19T22:07:06Z

207.200.21.3: /* References */

{{redirect|Snopes|the trilogy by William Faulkner|Snopes trilogy}}
{{Infobox Website
| name = Urban Legends Reference Pages (snopes.com)
| logo = [[Image:Snopes logo.png|Snopes logo|200px]]
| url = http://www.snopes.com/
| type = Reference pages
| commercial = Yes
| registration = Required only on forums
| owner = Barbara and David P. Mikkelson
| author = Barbara and David P. Mikkelson
}}
'''Snopes.com''' ({{pronEng|ˈsnoʊps}}), officially the '''Urban Legends Reference Pages''', is a [[web site]] discussing [[urban legend]]s, Internet rumors, e-mail forwards, and other stories of uncertain or questionable origin.<ref>[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4819108 Snopes.com: Debunking Myths in Cyberspace] [[National Public Radio]] August 27, 2005</ref> It is the best-known resource for validating and debunking such stories in American popular culture.<ref>Neil Henry, ''American Carnival: Journalism Under Siege in an Age of New Media'' (University of California Press 2007), p. 285.</ref>

Snopes is run by Barbara and David Mikkelson,<ref>{{cite web|url = http://snopes.com|title=Snopes|publisher = snopes.com}}</ref> a [[California]] couple who met on the alt.folklore.urban [[newsgroup]].<ref name="nyt100405"/> The site is organized according to topic and includes a message board where stories and pictures of questionable veracity may be posted. The Mikkelsons also founded the [[San Fernando Valley]] Folklore Society, and were credited as the owners of the site until 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://msgboard.snopes.com/message/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=55;t=000490|publisher = snopes.com|title = Messageboard post}}</ref>

==History==
David Mikkelson used the username "snopes" (the name of a family of often unpleasant people in the works of [[William Faulkner]])<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.snopes.com/info/faq.asp#snopes |title = Frequently Asked Questions|quote = What are 'snopes'?|publisher = Snopes|accessdate = 2006-06-09}}</ref><ref name=Chron>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/09/07/DD242504.DTL |date=2002-09-07 |first=Paul |last=Bond |work=San Francisco Chronicle |title=Web site separates fact from urban legend}}</ref> in the [[Usenet]] newsgroup alt.folklore.urban.<ref name=Porter>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.").</ref> Barbara Hamel was also a prolific poster. The Mikkelsons created the Snopes site in 1995.<ref name=Seipp/> Barbara and David now work on the site full time.<ref name="nyt100405"/><ref name=Chron/><ref name=Seipp>{{cite web
|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/seipp/seipp200407210830.asp|date=2004-07-21|author=[[Cathy Seipp]]|title=Where Urban Legends Fall
|publisher=[[National Review Online]]}}</ref> A television pilot based on the site called ''Snopes: Urban Legends'' was completed with American actor [[Jim Davidson (actor)|Jim Davidson]] as host, but major networks passed on the project.<ref name=Chron/>

==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]],<ref>{{cite web|author=Beth Nissen |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/10/03/rec.false.rumors/index.html |title=CNN.com - Hear the rumor? Nostradamus and other tall tales |publisher=Archives.cnn.com |date=2001-10-03 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref> [[FOX news]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,226223,00.html |title=Teens Abusing Energy-Boosting Drinks, Doctors Fear - Health News | Current Health News | Medical News |publisher=FOXNews.com |date=2006-10-31 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref> [[MSNBC]]<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17798063/ |title=Urban Legends Banned-April Fools'! |publisher=[[MSNBC]] |date=2007-04-01 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref> and Australia's [[ABC Television|ABC]] on its '[[Media Watch (TV program)|Media Watch]]' program. Snopes's 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.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Who Is Barack Obama?"]. Retrieved 22 January 2008.</ref> As of March 2009, the site has around 6.2 million visitors per month.<ref>[http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/rumor-detectives-true-story-or-online-hoax/article122216.html Reader's Digest: "Rumor Detectives: True Story or Online Hoax?"]. Retrieved 10 March 2009.</ref>

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.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/info/faq.asp "Urban Legends Reference Pages: (Frequently Asked Questions)"]. (Re "How do I know the information you've presented is accurate?".) Retrieved June 9, 2006.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/roundrock.asp |title = Round Rock Gangs|publisher = Snopes|accessdate = 2009-05-03}}</ref> The Mikkelsons say many of the urban legends are mistakenly attributed because of common problems associated with e-mail signatures.<ref>[http://www.congress.org/news/2009/11/30/six_tips_from_snopescom_on_emails Six tips from Snopes.com on e-mails]. Congress.org, Nov. 30, 2009. </ref>

==Lost Legends==
In an attempt to demonstrate the perils of over-reliance on authority, the Mikkelsons assembled a series of fabricated urban folklore tales that they term ''The Repository of Lost Legends''.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/lost/lost.htm "Urban Legends Reference Page: Lost Legends"]. Retrieved 9 June 2006.</ref> (The name was chosen for its acronym, T.R.O.L.L., a reference to the early 1990s definition of the word ''[[Internet troll|troll]]'' to mean an Internet prank, of which David Mikkelson was a prominent practitioner.<ref name=Porter/>)

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 the supposed connection of "[[Ring Around the Rosie]]" to the [[bubonic plague]]. Although the creators were sure that no one could believe a tale so ridiculous — and had added a link<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/lost/false.htm "Urban Legends Reference Page: Lost Legends (False Authority)"]. Retrieved 9 June 2006.</ref> 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 television show.<ref name=TVshow>[http://www.snopes.com/humor/mediagoofs/sixpence.asp "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Humor (Mostly True Stories)"]. Retrieved 20 June 2006.</ref> The television 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.<ref name=Porter/>

==Reception==
Snopes has received praise from folklorist [[Jan Harold Brunvand]], who considers the site so comprehensive as to obviate the necessity for launching one of his own.<ref name=Seipp/>

In 2007, the Snopes site featured [[pop-up ad]]s for the controversial [[Zango (company)|Zango]] adware product.<ref>[http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/not-urban-legend-snopes-pushes-zango.html "Not an urban legend: Snopes pushes Zango"] - [[Sunbelt Software|Sunbelt]] Blog, January 28, 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.techspot.com/news/28789-snopes-peddling-malware.html "Snopes peddling malware?"] - [[TechSpot]], January 28, 2008</ref> Snopes stopped serving the ads in January 2008, after criticism from tech sites, security experts and users.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cio.de/news/cio_worldnews/849389/index1.html|title=Snopes.com stops serving adware|work=CIO|accessdate=2009-03-03}}</ref>

Snopes receives more complaints that it is too liberal than that it is too conservative, but insists that it applies the same debunking standards to all political stories.<ref name="nyt100405"/> [[FactCheck]] reviewed a sample of Snopes' responses to political rumors regarding [[George W. Bush]], [[Sarah Palin]] and [[Barack Obama]], and found them to be free from bias in all cases. FactCheck noted that Barbara Mikkelson was a Canadian citizen (and thus unable to vote in American elections) and David Mikkelson was an independent who was once a registered Republican.<ref name="nyt100405"/> "You’d be hard-pressed to find two more apolitical people," David Mikkelson told them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/is_snopescom_run_by_very_democratic_proprietors.html |title=Snopes.com |publisher= [[FactCheck]] |date=2009-04-01 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/40861/|title=Fact-checking the fact-checkers: Snopes.com gets an 'A'|publisher=[[Network World]]|date=April 13, 2009}}</ref>

==See also==
* ''[[MythBusters]]''
* ''[[The Straight Dope]]''
* ''[[FactCheck.org]]''
* ''[[The Skeptic's Dictionary]]''

Of Course David Mikkelson has been known to tell half truths as shown in snopes editorials

==External links==
* [http://www.snopes.com/ Snopes.com]

[[Category:Internet properties established in 1995]]
[[Category:Educational websites]]
[[Category:Skeptic multimedia]]
[[Category:Skeptics]]
[[Category:Urban legends]]

[[bg:Urban Legends Reference Pages]]
[[es:Snopes]]
[[id:Snopes]]
[[it:Snopes]]
[[pl:Snopes.com]]
[[fi:Snopes]]

Snopes

2010-04-19T22:02:44Z

207.200.21.3: /* See also */

{{redirect|Snopes|the trilogy by William Faulkner|Snopes trilogy}}
{{Infobox Website
| name = Urban Legends Reference Pages (snopes.com)
| logo = [[Image:Snopes logo.png|Snopes logo|200px]]
| url = http://www.snopes.com/
| type = Reference pages
| commercial = Yes
| registration = Required only on forums
| owner = Barbara and David P. Mikkelson
| author = Barbara and David P. Mikkelson
}}
'''Snopes.com''' ({{pronEng|ˈsnoʊps}}), officially the '''Urban Legends Reference Pages''', is a [[web site]] discussing [[urban legend]]s, Internet rumors, e-mail forwards, and other stories of uncertain or questionable origin.<ref>[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4819108 Snopes.com: Debunking Myths in Cyberspace] [[National Public Radio]] August 27, 2005</ref> It is the best-known resource for validating and debunking such stories in American popular culture.<ref>Neil Henry, ''American Carnival: Journalism Under Siege in an Age of New Media'' (University of California Press 2007), p. 285.</ref>

Snopes is run by Barbara and David Mikkelson,<ref>{{cite web|url = http://snopes.com|title=Snopes|publisher = snopes.com}}</ref> a [[California]] couple who met on the alt.folklore.urban [[newsgroup]].<ref name="nyt100405"/> The site is organized according to topic and includes a message board where stories and pictures of questionable veracity may be posted. The Mikkelsons also founded the [[San Fernando Valley]] Folklore Society, and were credited as the owners of the site until 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://msgboard.snopes.com/message/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=55;t=000490|publisher = snopes.com|title = Messageboard post}}</ref>

==History==
David Mikkelson used the username "snopes" (the name of a family of often unpleasant people in the works of [[William Faulkner]])<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.snopes.com/info/faq.asp#snopes |title = Frequently Asked Questions|quote = What are 'snopes'?|publisher = Snopes|accessdate = 2006-06-09}}</ref><ref name=Chron>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/09/07/DD242504.DTL |date=2002-09-07 |first=Paul |last=Bond |work=San Francisco Chronicle |title=Web site separates fact from urban legend}}</ref> in the [[Usenet]] newsgroup alt.folklore.urban.<ref name=Porter>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.").</ref> Barbara Hamel was also a prolific poster. The Mikkelsons created the Snopes site in 1995.<ref name=Seipp/> Barbara and David now work on the site full time.<ref name="nyt100405"/><ref name=Chron/><ref name=Seipp>{{cite web
|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/seipp/seipp200407210830.asp|date=2004-07-21|author=[[Cathy Seipp]]|title=Where Urban Legends Fall
|publisher=[[National Review Online]]}}</ref> A television pilot based on the site called ''Snopes: Urban Legends'' was completed with American actor [[Jim Davidson (actor)|Jim Davidson]] as host, but major networks passed on the project.<ref name=Chron/>

==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]],<ref>{{cite web|author=Beth Nissen |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/10/03/rec.false.rumors/index.html |title=CNN.com - Hear the rumor? Nostradamus and other tall tales |publisher=Archives.cnn.com |date=2001-10-03 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref> [[FOX news]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,226223,00.html |title=Teens Abusing Energy-Boosting Drinks, Doctors Fear - Health News | Current Health News | Medical News |publisher=FOXNews.com |date=2006-10-31 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref> [[MSNBC]]<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17798063/ |title=Urban Legends Banned-April Fools'! |publisher=[[MSNBC]] |date=2007-04-01 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref> and Australia's [[ABC Television|ABC]] on its '[[Media Watch (TV program)|Media Watch]]' program. Snopes's 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.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Who Is Barack Obama?"]. Retrieved 22 January 2008.</ref> As of March 2009, the site has around 6.2 million visitors per month.<ref>[http://www.rd.com/your-america-inspiring-people-and-stories/rumor-detectives-true-story-or-online-hoax/article122216.html Reader's Digest: "Rumor Detectives: True Story or Online Hoax?"]. Retrieved 10 March 2009.</ref>

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.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/info/faq.asp "Urban Legends Reference Pages: (Frequently Asked Questions)"]. (Re "How do I know the information you've presented is accurate?".) Retrieved June 9, 2006.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/roundrock.asp |title = Round Rock Gangs|publisher = Snopes|accessdate = 2009-05-03}}</ref> The Mikkelsons say many of the urban legends are mistakenly attributed because of common problems associated with e-mail signatures.<ref>[http://www.congress.org/news/2009/11/30/six_tips_from_snopescom_on_emails Six tips from Snopes.com on e-mails]. Congress.org, Nov. 30, 2009. </ref>

==Lost Legends==
In an attempt to demonstrate the perils of over-reliance on authority, the Mikkelsons assembled a series of fabricated urban folklore tales that they term ''The Repository of Lost Legends''.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/lost/lost.htm "Urban Legends Reference Page: Lost Legends"]. Retrieved 9 June 2006.</ref> (The name was chosen for its acronym, T.R.O.L.L., a reference to the early 1990s definition of the word ''[[Internet troll|troll]]'' to mean an Internet prank, of which David Mikkelson was a prominent practitioner.<ref name=Porter/>)

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 the supposed connection of "[[Ring Around the Rosie]]" to the [[bubonic plague]]. Although the creators were sure that no one could believe a tale so ridiculous — and had added a link<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/lost/false.htm "Urban Legends Reference Page: Lost Legends (False Authority)"]. Retrieved 9 June 2006.</ref> 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 television show.<ref name=TVshow>[http://www.snopes.com/humor/mediagoofs/sixpence.asp "Urban Legends Reference Pages: Humor (Mostly True Stories)"]. Retrieved 20 June 2006.</ref> The television 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.<ref name=Porter/>

==Reception==
Snopes has received praise from folklorist [[Jan Harold Brunvand]], who considers the site so comprehensive as to obviate the necessity for launching one of his own.<ref name=Seipp/>

In 2007, the Snopes site featured [[pop-up ad]]s for the controversial [[Zango (company)|Zango]] adware product.<ref>[http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/not-urban-legend-snopes-pushes-zango.html "Not an urban legend: Snopes pushes Zango"] - [[Sunbelt Software|Sunbelt]] Blog, January 28, 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.techspot.com/news/28789-snopes-peddling-malware.html "Snopes peddling malware?"] - [[TechSpot]], January 28, 2008</ref> Snopes stopped serving the ads in January 2008, after criticism from tech sites, security experts and users.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cio.de/news/cio_worldnews/849389/index1.html|title=Snopes.com stops serving adware|work=CIO|accessdate=2009-03-03}}</ref>

Snopes receives more complaints that it is too liberal than that it is too conservative, but insists that it applies the same debunking standards to all political stories.<ref name="nyt100405"/> [[FactCheck]] reviewed a sample of Snopes' responses to political rumors regarding [[George W. Bush]], [[Sarah Palin]] and [[Barack Obama]], and found them to be free from bias in all cases. FactCheck noted that Barbara Mikkelson was a Canadian citizen (and thus unable to vote in American elections) and David Mikkelson was an independent who was once a registered Republican.<ref name="nyt100405"/> "You’d be hard-pressed to find two more apolitical people," David Mikkelson told them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/is_snopescom_run_by_very_democratic_proprietors.html |title=Snopes.com |publisher= [[FactCheck]] |date=2009-04-01 |accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/40861/|title=Fact-checking the fact-checkers: Snopes.com gets an 'A'|publisher=[[Network World]]|date=April 13, 2009}}</ref>

Bull Crap!

== References ==
{{reflist|2|refs=
<ref name="nyt100405">{{cite news |author=[[Brian Stelter]] |work=[[New York Times]] |title=Debunkers of Fictions Sift the Net |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/technology/05snopes.html |date=April 4, 2010 |accessdate=April 5, 2010}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
* [http://www.snopes.com/ Snopes.com]

[[Category:Internet properties established in 1995]]
[[Category:Educational websites]]
[[Category:Skeptic multimedia]]
[[Category:Skeptics]]
[[Category:Urban legends]]

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