SITE DESCRIPTION

Snopes.com is a website that takes rumors and urban legends, researches their validity, and reports whether there is any truth to them.  The list of rumors consists of those that are current and some that are passed on through the generations, and explains their origins, their purpose and details how much of them are fact, if anything.

Snopes has urban legends broken down into 40+ categories, with each having a number of additional subcategories. Though some are topical, others are very specific. For instance, there are the normal categories such as movies, music, and sports, but then there are also categories for disney, coke and titanic. Many of the popular email circulations are also listed, many of which are said to be false, or at least fabricated.

On the info page, there is a Snopes FAQ which addresses many of the accuracy concerns you may have. From what we gathered, the site’s owners Barbara and David Mikkelson take caution in posting inaccurate information. Their content appears to be researched and then reresearched.

ABOUT SNOPES.COM

As mentioned above, Snopes is owned and operated by Barbara and David Mikkelson, and their copyright on the site’s footer suggests that Snopes has been around since 1995. In that time the Mikkelson’s have compiled and researched hundreds, if not thousands, of urban legends. Although they don’t claim to be the ultimate authority on any of the listed subjects, they do provide a bibliography of where they did their research at the end of each listing. Anyone wishing to dispute their claims is encouraged to check the sources for themselves.

WHAT WE LIKED

What’s not to like? Surfing around on Snopes.com for just a little while will make any visitor feel foolish for believing that crazy rumor they heard in high school, especially when they’ve continued to believe it years later. That’s what makes the site so much fun.

The layout on Snopes is very clean and concise. There is an adequate amount of white space, and though ads are present, they stay out of the way of the content. The navigation makes sense, and the category icons add a nice touch to what would be an otherwise plain, text-filled site.

As far as the content goes, some of our favorite legends are the salted treat, eight glasses, and tastes like chicken. There are dozens others that will surprise/amuse you as well.

One of the most interesting features of Snopes is the 25 Hottest Urban Legends, where users have easy access to the day’s most popular myths. Though they are listed daily, the top 25 doesn’t change much from day to day. Chances are you’ve received an email about at least a few of the daily 25.

In addition to offering an RSS feed, Snopes allows visitors to quickly access the newest listings and updates directly from the website. This way frequent visitors can easily see the most recent information.

Perhaps the best compliment we can pay to Snopes is their ability to stay within themselves. They serve a very specific and particular niche, but they do it very well and without confusion. They have stuck to who they are and why they’re there for a very long time, and it appears to be paying off.

WHAT WE DIDN’T LIKE

We have no complaints. Seriously. Snopes.com is a very interesting, very well-researched website. The layout is fine, the content is excellent, and the guarantee of new myths and rumors originating means Snopes will be ok for a very long time.

THE FINAL WORD

This site is an excellent way to pass the time. Fun, interesting and entertaining, Snopes is definitely worth a look.

www.snopes.com