I was recently sent a chain email regarding new Georgia driving laws going into effect on July 1st, 2007. Because of the nature of metro Atlanta’s traffic, I assumed that at least some of the new laws were legitimate. However, as I perused the list, I realized that more than half of the new policies seemed too exorbitant to have been omitted from local news reports. So, I did a little hunting on the Internet. And it wasn’t long before I discovered that the new laws were a bunch of “hooey.” Since the birth of chain-email popularity, there has been a slew of information handed down from PC to PC, most of it blatantly false. Urban legends have always been a huge part of pop culture. But enhanced technology makes the spread of crazy rumors even more rampant. In case you’re combing through your hundreds of “Fwd: [insert rumor here] chain emails in your inbox, attempting to eliminate the bunk and the junk, here are some ways to get to the truth behind all those Internet rumors...
Get Right to the Source…
Thankfully, there is a website dedicated specifically to debunking Internet myths. And that site is Snopes.com. The scope of the information therein focuses on consumer related issues. Legal warnings, product recalls, frauds, scams, and business-related myths are often discredited by the reports listed on Snopes. The beauty of this site is that rumors are often broken down into their “true” and “false” parts. For instance, according to the site, a news bulletin regarding the outlandish kidnapping of a child may be debunked if the actual kidnapping methods cannot be confirmed by legal entities. In short, the kidnappings themselves may have occurred. But the circumstances under which they happened may have been wildly exaggerated in Internet chain mails. It would be an adequate response to say that Snopes.com is probably the first source you should consult after receiving a dubious piece of information in a chain-email.
For Legal Rumors…
One of the best websites to obtain brutally direct information regarding celebrity legal issues is The Smoking Gun. This incredibly entertaining site posts official documents, letters, and all sorts of other goodies about the legal goings on in the country. The site posts information daily, often with mug shots of the criminals. The information on the site is most often shocking and flagrant. But it’s a wonderful source for locating those minor details that seem to get completely blown out of proportion regarding popular cases in the media.
For “Background” Information…
Wikipedia is also another great source of information on any number of things. This “free content encyclopedia” is not always the most accurate source of information, as it collects its data from volunteers. The reason why many people are leery about the legitimacy of the content, is because virtually anyone can edit the entries as long as they have access to the Internet.
The good thing about Wikipedia is that since a good majority of information is correct, it is fairly easy to check references that are listed on the site about a particular topic. Many of the entries contain links to other sites that have more reliable data. For that reason, Wikipedia is a good starting point when attempting to verify certain things.
For Celebrity Rumors…
It can be fairly difficult to disprove some of the rumors that are spread about celebrities. Most of the time, famous people expect the paparazzi, internal spies, and even close friends to unearth certain private details about their lives. To that effect, publicists and other celebrity personnel have full-time jobs of protecting the images of their clients. Though it is enticing to read bits of gossip about popular celebrities, the assumption must be made that either some or all of the story details are false.
IMDb.com (Internet Movie DataBase) is a good source for obtaining celebrity information. Concentrating primarily on film and TV actors, the site also includes tons of biographical information on other celebrities like musicians, artists, and singers. The information on this site is most often very accurate. But the trivia sections listed under the entries often contain the stuff that Internet rumors are derived from. In these sections, you can find out all sorts of neat things about your favorite celebs. Sometimes, you may even stumble upon mention of a particular rumor itself. In any event, having concrete evidence to support the debunking process is key. The IMDb website is reputable enough to do just that.
For Famous Crime Rumors…
There are tons of horrible crime stories being relayed across the country. Some crime stories (especially those concerning mass murder or serial killing) are so terrible that they can be difficult to believe. Often crime stories become “rumors” because those reading them are desperate for extreme or “seedy” details. But unfortunately, many of the macabre stories being told these days are true. However, it is extremely easy to misconstrue certain details of crimes. By the time the story is told to Email Recipient #108, the tale has either been grossly embellished, or transformed into a completely different account.
CrimeLibrary.com is a website for crime story lovers. The site covers Court TV proceedings in addition to up-to-date news stories. Cases which are decades old also are delivered by various writers. The accounts are divided into chapters, and are often extremely detailed. And since the writers cite their sources explicitly, it’s fair to assume that the details therein are accurate. An unlikely source for locating the origin of Intenet rumors, this site can most definitely be used to debunk Internet myths (concerning crimes) by dissecting the stories and locating the parts that are true, and the parts which are not.
