Snopes

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Snopes could use some help. Please research the article's assertions. Whatever is credible should be sourced, and what is not should be removed.

Snopes.com is a website founded by Barbara and David Mikkelson that dedicates itself to researching and confirming the truth behind stupidity urban legends, chain e-mails, and other stories of uncertain origin. Some of this includes various forms of woo, religious stories, and myths about politicians (Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and Bill and Hillary Clinton all have their own sections).

Woo-pushers, the fringe on either end of the political spectrum, and those who benefit from these stories tend to dismiss Snopes as wrong or biased, despite research showing it isn't. The writers of many chain emails have found a different way to help neutralize Snopes' effectiveness, by announcing that their claim was confirmed by Snopes (since few recipients will check to see if it really did).

Lest people think Snopes is simply biased or just plain cynical, a surprising number of myths actually turn out to be true (although usually in a much more mundane way than the chain letters imply). Randomly browsing Snopes is a fun way to kill your day, right up there with TV Tropes and Cracked.

Contents

[edit] Methodology

Snopes articles usually consist of little more than a claim that they investigated, the site's findings on the veracity of that claim, and citation footnotes. On May 15, 2015, the site chose to publish a more detailed article showing the methodology they used to rebut one long-time Hollywood myth -- that Clark Gable had killed a pedestrian while driving drunk in 1945 (or was it 1933?) and the alleged coverup by MGM that ensued. Their results show how two separate incidents in Gable's life, one possible incident in the life of John Huston, and the willingness of people to believe the worst about the movie industry, combined in the minds of those who were reminiscing about Gable to form one scandalous (and slanderous) story that has since become part of the canon of Hollywood history.[1]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

  • Snopes.com the site itself. Everything you know is wrong. Enjoy.

[edit] Footnotes

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