Why don't people check snopes??

[Rhonda in TX]

A facebook friend posted an alarmist message about some group on facebook. I checked snopes immediately and found out it was false.

 

I always check snopes before passing something along. Am I alone? Am I just a skeptic?

 

Now, do I let this fb friend (high school friend, haven't talked to her since then) know, or just let it pass?

[DarcyB]

Not everyone knows about snopes, so it wouldn't hurt to post there with a link to snopes proving it false. And maybe they'll get the hint?

[skirch]

I don't know, it's one of my pet peeves. I have some family members who constantly send misinformation and I constantly reply with the link to snopes. I don't think they care if the information they're spreading is true or not.

[GraciebytheBay]

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. I usually reply with the link to Snopes. It's not right to ask people to pray or waste good thoughts for something that isn't true! Not everyone appreciates the link, though. One person on FB took it personally, as if I was calling them stupid for posting it. I wasn't, but there were already a few people responding with promises to pray, and it really bothered me. Btw, it took me 10 seconds to find out that it wasn't true and had been circulating for 6 years.

[myfatherslily]

If something is blatant misinformation, then I do pass along a link. I'm sure there are plenty of people that don't care, but there are many that simply assume it's true because a friend sent it. They'll never learn that most of these things AREN'T true unless someone steps up to tell them!:)

[jplain]

People are gullible. It is because they weren't classically educated. :tongue_smilie:

[emubird]

Because checking snopes takes all the fun out of it. That's my impression anyway, from the responses I've got.

[Rhonda in TX]

I think I'll send her a message about it, rather than post it on facebook. She can decide how she wants to handle it and if she gets mad and unfriends me, no big deal. Like I said, I haven't spoken to her since high school. :001_smile:

[Veritaserum]

I always check. My mom forwards everything. :glare: I usually just ignore and delete.

[Gwenhwyfar]

i have some relatives that do that on fb & via email (sending the 'brad pitt is tracking these emails and donating a million bucks to the dolphin space travel program' stuff) --- for the most part, it's my older relatives... mother-in-law and step-mother-in-law are two of the biggest offenders - and these ladies barely know how to use fb and their email accounts, so it doesn't surprise me at all that they don't research this stuff. ;)

 

i just let them know it isn't true, send link to snopes/etc. i don't know if they actually go READ the link....

[Unicorn.]

My aunt does this all the time. I finally started sending gentle snopes messages to her. Then I get an email titled "Snopes Outed". According to the email, we shouldn't believe anything they say becasue not only are they not experts, but they are just a husband and wife team, who research this stuff on their own. And.....the worst part....

They are Democrats! :svengo: :lol:

 

I still send her snopes links, and she even sent me one recently that said she had checked it on snopes 1st. But apparently she didn't read the whole thing.:tongue_smilie:

[Heather in AL]

I check Snopes, too, and I always feel like I'm alone in doing so. I'm also surprised at some of the people who forward things to me; people who I would have *thought* knew better.

 

Anyway, when I get these mails and find them to be false (the gang initiations, etc), I will reply back to the sender (with a Snopes link) that "hey, I checked that on Snopes and it's actually false, but it's a good reminder to be vigilant"... that sort of thing. I hope they get the hint to check themselves before sending stuff out in the future.

 

Snopes is my friend. :lol:

[Guest CarolineUK]

... and wasn't even aware of the sorts of things you suggest I might need it for :D. I'm old.

 

Thanks for letting me know.

[jplain]

Then I get an email titled "Snopes Outed". According to the email, we shouldn't believe anything they say becasue not only are they not experts, but they are just a husband and wife team, who research this stuff on their own. And.....the worst part....

They are Democrats!

:lol::smilielol5::rofl:

[Mejane]

I reply with a link to the snopes article. Then people reply to me saying, "Ohhhh, I never even thought about verifying it before I sent it on to my thousand contacts..." Duh. :rolleyes:

Edited October 22, 2010 by Mejane

[kalphs]

People are gullible. It is because they weren't classically educated. :tongue_smilie:

:iagree:

[elfgivas]

i'm thinking that if you posted it to the facebook page, then you'd save a lot of people a lot of time checking it and getting back to her.

 

(because there are a lot of us who do check - we just don't send you many forwards ; ).

 

smiling,

ann

[pqr]

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp

 

on the 1895 Kansas high school test.

 

Not too sure I buy their reasoning which is why I check Snopes but do not always believe it.

[duckens]

Some people just don't know about Snopes.

Some are lazy.

Some are not able to think critically.

 

The scary part is who falls into these categories.

 

Loverboy learned of Snopes from me.

 

His dad keeps forwarding him crazy stuff, and no matter how many times Loverboy responds with Snopes, his dad continues to send out stuff blindly without using any critical thought or checking Snopes (or another secondary source like Factcheck).

 

The scary part is that his dad is an educated person. He has a PhD in physics, and he worked with nuclear weapons for decades for the U.S. government. He's not dumb; he's just too lazy or unable to question things of a certain slant.

 

One of many reasons we are homeschooling: to teach critical thinking, to teach about bias from a source, to teach about confirming with more than one source.

[delaney]

I always check. My mom forwards everything. :glare: I usually just ignore and delete.

That

[*~Tina~*]

Personally, I always wonder how people come to put so much seemingly blind faith in Snopes? Who's behind the website? What's their motive? Do they recieve funding from outside sources? How do you know you can trust what they say? Where did they get their credibility? What reasons do you have to believe Snopes is "all knowing" and completely accurate? What do you know for sure about their methods of verification? Do you have any valid means to verify what "Snopes" claims is true or false?

 

It has always struck me as odd that so many put faith in something one knows so little about, particulary on the WWW.

 

Just my 2¢ :)

 

Blessings,

¸.·´ .·´¨¨))

((¸¸.·´ .·´ -:¦:-Tina ~

-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*

http://seasonsoflearning.blogspot.com/

[mykdsmomy]

This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. I have gotten many many political emails from some family/friends. I usually go straight to Snopes and reply with the Snopes link. In today's age, there is no reason for people to be spreading garbage around without fact checking. Rumors become accepted as facts, and people wonder why our country is going down the cra**er.

[Mrs Mungo]

A facebook friend posted an alarmist message about some group on facebook. I checked snopes immediately and found out it was false.

 

I always check snopes before passing something along. Am I alone? Am I just a skeptic?

 

Now, do I let this fb friend (high school friend, haven't talked to her since then) know, or just let it pass?

 

The same reason they don't check political facts on factcheck, politifact or some other source: 1. people are lazy, 2. people like sensationalism, 3. it's their first day on the internets. ;)

 

Tina, Snopes posts their sources in most of their articles.

Edited October 22, 2010 by Mrs Mungo