Comment: Barbara,
I just want to tell you what a huge fan I am of Snopes. I call myself the
"Snopes Queen" whenever I have to pass along the bad news to my friends
that they have forwarded yet another urban legend. I don't trust anything
I get. I check everything out on Snopes.

It would never have occurred to me to email you, because I always assumed
that Snopes was some big faceless entity, (although I always notice your
name at the bottom of each story and enjoy your extra description in
quotes between your first and last name, it never occurred to me that you
were the only name I ever saw...) Anyway, I was lucky enough to catch a
segment on NPR about you a few weeks ago and was thrilled to know what a
grass roots effort this is and that it is just you and your husband doing
this out of your home.

After a tennis match the other day another player said something about
Snopes being run by the government (she is skeptical about what she
alleged are your medical opinions). I was so happy to be able to
enlighten her about who really is in charge of Snopes and to tell her I
have never found you to be anything but objective and reliable.

Anyway, although I do get annoyed by all the pop-up advertising, I get
that you have to make a living and you'll be happy to know that I did join
Netflix by clicking on one of your pop-ups.

Keep up the good work.

A fan from Tucson, Arizona

Comment: I really want to thank you for the job you do helping us in this
digital world we all travel, to make an effort to understand what is true
and false out there. I know that I am not alone having well-meaning but
less critical thinking friends and family send along " earth shattering
items of interest" to all and sundry.

I think you provide a valuable service which does a lot to calm people
down and lower the volatility endemic to many of the items most
circulated. The articles, at least many of the ones that cross my screen
are usually sent for the maximum shock value and I believe can easily
convert and scare people who are not schooled in critical thinking. The
internet is a powerful tool useful for those who want to rile up folks for
their own purposes.

I am unsure exactly who you are, but I think it is great that you make it
your business to help people know the facts or at least give them a more
balanced look at the issues that worry us all these days. It would be
great if the folks in Washington, Sacramento, Albany, etc. had to read
Snopes when being pushed to sign legislation by the lobbyists that prey on
them. I really encourage you to keep up the good work.

Please be assured the by no means am I a luddite I think we are so
fortunate to have access to all this information on the internet, but the
corollary to this access should be the responsibility to make sure what
we read is accurate before running off ready to "man the barricades,"
encourage tea parties or any of the other myriad ideas we are urged to act
upon daily when the information bombardment arrives in our inbox.

We need a lot more folks out there doing what you do and debunking the
lies. It should be the media and news folks doing the lion's share,
however they are forced to deal with a new cycle that is 24/7 and so often
act first and fix later. Maybe sending a link to Snopes to CNN anchors,
Fox and MSNBC anchors, etc. would not be a bad idea at all. As long as you
remain above the political agenda and just provide facts you could be the
most important folks out there today keeping us from running off
half-cocked every time one of the members of the right or left start
another round of inaccurate information to bolster whatever cause they are
espousing today.
Keep up the good work.

Comment: I am so glad to have u snopes! I refer to ur site for nearly
every email I get! and then forward the link about the stupid fake story
it represents! Thanks for being u! I've been using ur site for years...and
don't intend to stop. You're all doing a great job from my P.O.V.!

Comment: I refer people to your site AT LEAST twice a day. This morning,
I even introduced my 81-year old dad to Snopes.com. He has been getting a
bunch of political emails lately, and every one of them was a fabrication.
I showed him how to use the search feature on your page, and now he's
hooked.

I can't thank you enough for your service!

Comment: I just wanted to tell you how great and important your site is.
Keep up the good work.

-God

Comment: I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all the great work
you do on this site. At least once a week, I receive a message that I need
to check out at snopes. You are performing a very valuable service- keep
up the good work.

Comment: Thank you, your site provides a really great service. There is so
much junk flying around on the Net and people are so gullible it's nice to
be able to have somewhere to refer them to when they send me bizarre and
untrue things!

Comment: This is just a brief note to say thank you for the service your
site provides. I have many friends who used to forward me all manner of
stuff. I never take a story at face value but google it to see if it is
so. Most often your site is one that verifies or debunks the story and
gives the history. I then go back to my friend who forwarded it and give
them a link for them to get "more information". When they realise thay
have been had, I encourage them to send the link back up the line to the
person who sent it to them telling them they are not as gullible as they
thought. The outcome is I now get almost no hoax emails and my friends are
learning to check before they forward.

Thank -you for what you are doing

Comment: congratulations on the well earned article in the NYT

Comment: Great NYT article. I have been using your site for years and
always send the results to those who send me bogus stuff by email.

Comment: "But even though Snopes pays the bills for the couple now,
through advertising revenue, they doubt they are having much of an impact.

“It’s not like, ‘Well, we have to get out there and defend the truth,’ ”
Mrs. Mikkelson added. “When you’re looking at truth versus gossip, truth
doesn’t stand a chance.”" --NY Times 4 April, 2010

Though this may be true I appreciate the work you do. Keep it up!

Comment: Barbara..just wanted to thank you for the extremely interesting
article on Easter customs and beliefs. It was not only informative, but
also a fun read.

Naturally, when I get emails claiming this or that, I check them out with
your site before forwarding them as fact. It's always amazing to me what
people will believe. Maybe I should have become a con man...seems so
easy!

Oh, and I enjoy the punny way you sign off at the end!

Comment: I just read the NYTimes article and have to disagree with you
about one thing ... this website creates a HUGE impact on Internet users.
I use it all the time not only to determine the truth of statements, but,
at least as importantly, to demonstrate to others how they can benefit by
using more discernment in giving credibility to what they read. We humans
can be sooo gullible, particularly when we read something which stirs our
emotions and / or aligns with our personal beliefs. Your articles give us
a place to touch base with a more tested reality, thereby reminding us
that we should use our own powers of thinking before we believe what we
see. And, when something seemingly strange proves to be true, we are
reminded that we often need to open our minds to see clearly. This
website has a huge and valuable impact. Thank you!

Comment: Dear David & Barbara Mikkelson & Snopsters:

I just read the article in the NYT about internet debunkers and was
delighted to see that it featured Snopes prominently.

I am a long time Snopes enthusiast and I want to THANK YOU for creating a
reliable source of information.

It sometimes seems like ever since Al Gore invented the interweb, Nigerian
princes and Bill Gates have been raising boneless chicken for KFC.
Although I doubt it will ever stop -- Snopes allows me to see the humor in
it rather than despair at the folly of humankind.

You do make a difference and I, for one, appreciate it.

Comment: Saw the NYTimes article on Snopes. You are having an impact. I
get dreadful chain emails forwarded to me, I check Snopes and send back an
email to everyone who received the bad email that Snopes says it was not
true and forward the link to your article.

Now I get emails that lead off with, "Snopes says this is true."

Thank you so much for your hard, hard work.

Comment: I have been meaning to tell you how glad i am that you run this
site and when I saw the article in the NYTimes this morning, I decided to
do it. I use your site on a regular basis and only one or two times have I
not been able to find what I was looking for. In this age of instant
information we need snopes.com to be able to tell truth from fiction.

Comment: 5APR10
Just read a New York Times news Service article in the Wilmington NC STAR
NEWS newspaper about David and Barbara Mikkelson and how Snopes was
created. Thank you for an outstandind job well done. Your labors have made
our world a better place.

Comment: “It’s not like, ‘Well, we have to get out there and defend the
truth,’ ” Mrs. Mikkelson added. “When you’re looking at truth versus
gossip, truth doesn’t stand a chance.”

I just read the NYTimes piece about your work which is quoted above, and I
wanted to show you how I "get out there and defend the truth" using your
work.

When I receive one of "those" emails, I check it at your site. If it is
inaccurate, I hit "reply all" and send out your explanation to everyone in
that mailing. It isn't much, but I couldn't do it if you didn't provide
the information. Thanks.

Comment: Dear Mr. and Mrs. Mikkelson,

I read the article about Snopes.com in the NY Times, including these last
two sentences:

But even though Snopes pays the bills for the couple now, through
advertising revenue, they doubt they are having much of an impact.

"It's not like, 'Well, we have to get out there and defend the
truth,'" Mrs. Mikkelson added. "When you're looking at truth
versus gossip, truth doesn't stand a chance."

I have visited your site many times. So have many other people I know. I
have sent my parents to your site on more than one occasion to set their
minds at ease about various things--yes, some of them political in nature.
I am so happy to know there is a site I can depend on to set the record
straight.

Please know that you are having an impact. You may think the truth
doesn't stand a chance when it comes up against gossip, but many people
sleep better at night knowing that there are people like you out there who
are at least giving the truth a fighting chance. I am one of them--and
believe me, I have two college-aged children, and plenty enough other
reasons to lose sleep :).

The "free press" is a lot less free than it used to be, and we need you.
So thank you for being there.

Comment: Hi folks, Love your site. I send people to it all the time,
especially those in the Chicken Little Society who send the 'gloom and
doom' notices and dire warnings of Global Thermonuclear Viruses. Some
people think if a virus is even mentioned on your site, it's a true
warning and they don't bother to read the rest of your well-reasearched
report.

I enjoyed seeing the NYT article about you in today's Boston Globe. When
you want to set up an east coast satellite office, give me a call. As John
Gielgud said "It's what I live for." You are my heros.

Keep up the good work.