Diana in OR Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 You know, reading previous threads, I think most of us here get annoyed with, but pretty much ignore the "urban legend" emails that we get. Normally, I delete those before I even open them. However, I've received several emails lately, from well-meaning friends, that are of a political nature. They highlight aspects of various candidates' lives or past history, or mannerisms or whatever, and use that as a basis of why we should/shouldn't vote for them. My friends are often angry, hostile, or upset about the information. I can let it slide when it's something along the lines of "fund this terminally ill child's trip to Disneyland". It usually takes less than a minute to look up the information on Snopes.com and see if it is true or not. (I'm trusting Snopes, and maybe I shouldn't be?) I wonder why more people don't do this. The political ones really grieve me because as citizens of the U.S.A. we are tasked with electing our leaders, and it would seem that many people make these choices based on false information, without checking out the facts. If I have the information that something is not true, then I feel it's my responsibility to give that information to the person who sent me the inaccurate information, but I always feel like the bad guy when I do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ma23peas Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Well, you have the time, they just have the time to forward them to everyone! I'm also the snopes queen for my friends distribution lists....although I can tell you that I have gotten a few that respond quicker than me referring them to snopes...some just don't take the time to check...like my mom! :) Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Academy of Jedi Arts Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Hee hee. A family member sent me one of those emails once. I wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper about the subject matter. I talked about how so much false information was being distributed by the general public and the media was ignoring the issue and not doing it's job of educating the common citizen with factual information regarding policy matters - not naming names of course. I never got another one of those emails again. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alenee Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 That makes us both whistleblowers! I hate getting stuff like this from friends, especially when I know they're smart enough not to buy into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I know how you feel. You're doing the right thing! I think in my case people just start taking me off their e-mail lists instead of actually taking 10 seconds to check whether something's true before sending it out. I suppose this is nice for me, but not so much for my larger cause ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracey in TX Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Chuckling because I feel your pain... My mom and FIL are always passing on doomsday info or inaccurate legends, but I'm the bad guy by shedding light (aka truth) on their forwarded emails. It's easy to access the truth, but not everyone feels compelled to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.