So I'm on an email list that is almost always good and useful (local moms), but every now and then it sends something that is nonsensical. The new thing now is to say "verified by Snopes" at the top, with a link to the Snopes article, but nobody seems to actually click on those links. They say "oh it must be true" and then accept it. Three times now I've clicked on the links and found that either it's not true or only partly true.
The people who send it always feel stupid when I bring it up, so I hate to do it, but I also have a hard time leaving it.
The first time I wrote back to the person who administers the list, and just her (not reply all), but then she sent another email to all saying "many thanks to [me, by full name] for actually clicking on the Snopes links and finding out that this isn't true after all! sorry!" Argh.
That was public enough that I didn't want to do it again. But it just came up again, when she sent one, I clicked on the "verified by Snopes" link, and oops, not so much. I didn't say anything, but then someone re-posted it on Facebook, with an emphasis on the untrue parts (it was partly true and partly untrue). Then I said something as mildly as I could (I played up how interesting the true parts are), but again I think the poster was embarrassed. Bah.
