This review is about a web site that I wish some of my relatives read before they called the computer guru up and asked if what they were reading is for real.  Let’s face facts not everything on the internet is real and it will never be that way.  So before you become known around the office as an utterly naive internet addict whose sole purpose is to perpetuate  urban legends please, check out Snopes.  At the very least Snopes identifies common emails that are just plain bogus and in some cases can help guide you from making a costly mistake, and hopefully prevent you from looking like a goober, too.

URL:  http://www.snopes.com/

Summary:  Snopes has a lengthy history of exposing internet falsehoods and ending debates of *is that email real*.  Through the years the only purpose of the site is to gain readership through stories and capitalize on advertising dollars.  Snopes has several useful features including a top 25 list, a newsletter and message board.  Snopes web design does contain some marketing tricks including exchanging the header of the web site with adds, occasionally using Google Ads in the left navigation and inconsistent page layout.  Long story short if Snopes wants to move up, invest in page design as they have already mastered content accumulation.

Favorite Urban Legend…Tainted Baby Carrots

Pros:

• Could definitely help internet newbies determine if they are onto something cool or just plain naive.
• If nothing else I like to compare my junk email box to the scams and stories in the archive
• Love the top 15 legends in the navigation and the top 25 list.

Cons:

• Uncertain page layout makes the web site look unprofessional and lends to the thought that Snopes may even be a scam itself
• Icons are a bit infantile considering modern web sites tend not to use animated dancing gifs
• Too many ads distract from content