About.com's Urban Legends section
http://urbanlegends.about.com
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An example of a fake photo being circulated as real. |
The Sept. 11 terror attacks have brought out more hoaxes, urban legends and false propaganda than any event in memory. Thanks to the the Internet and the "send" button, almost any piece of information, no matter how outrageous, has been finding its way into thousands of mailboxes around the world. And, in some cases, into press reports.
Did Nostradamus predict the attacks? Did CNN fake Palestinian celebrations? Did Canadian writer Gordon Sinclair rise from the dead to comment on the attacks? Did a camera capture a photo of an unlucky tourist at the top of the WTC just before one of the planes hit? Answers: no, no, no, and no.
I can understand why there's so much false information about this particular event. In scope and breadth, it was so difficult to comprehend that people are grabbing onto anything that they helps them "understand" certain aspects of the crisis. And if forwarding a rumor helps them gain a little control, they will do so without a second thought.
The best place to track urban legends is the About.com section run by guide David Emery. In addition to his usual smart debunking of various urban legends, he has been tracking rumors about the attacks since Sept. 11.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa091101a.htm
I rely on Emery's site and his weekly newsletter to keep abreast of the latest rumors. And if I receive a tip that sounds too good to be true, I check his site first to see what he has to say. Almost always, he has made a pronouncement by the time I get there.
A similar site is the "Rumors of War" section of Snopes.com -- more debunking of false Web lore, with quick "true," "false" and "undetermined" color cues.
http://www.snopes2.com/rumors/rumors.htm
Here's an old item about what I learned re: forwarding e-mail messages
(ironically enough, there's a Taliban connection):
http://www.sree.net/stories/forwarding.html
Links from Sree:
"Smarter Surfing" Guide to Web Resources
Latest Sree Tips Newsletter (focus on WTC attacks)
Subscribe to Sree Tips (one message a month)
Tech Guru segments on WABC-TV
Sree.net: Sree's lowercase world
