The world wide web is a wonderful source with a seemingly infinite amount of information at our disposal.  Everyday millions of surfers read through articles, blogs, twitters, emails, etc., soaking in everything the internet has to offer.  We all know the internet doesn’t always contain the most reliable information (e.g. Jeff Goldblum dying in New Zealand) but are we really aware of exactly how much of the web’s content is make believe? 

I don’t think we’ll ever really know but there is some help.  And Snopes is one site that tries to quiet those crazy internet rumors.  By compiling thousands of internet rumors and urban legends into easily browsed categories, you’ll never have to wonder again if President Obama received college financial aid to attend Occidental College as a “foreign student from Indonesia.”  Or the next time you receive a forwarded email from a concerned family member claiming gang initiates are driving with their lights off to provoke a flash from a good samaritan so they can then kill them, check it out on Snopes to see how this rumor originated.

This article was written in July & is part of the Archives , Internet's Best , Zack sections.