Vince Rusbosin

SLM-521

Hoaxes and Myths

I thought this was one of the most interesting assignments that I have done so far. I haven't visited or even heard of Snopes.com but I have been catching myself visiting this site and reading about what holds up as true, false, multiple truth value, undetermined or unclassified veracity. I really appreciate the fact that they classified some information as undetermined. I think this shows that they have actually investigate the information.

One of the first things that I wanted to investigate was the 'Free Rice' website, and the concept of how free rice is donated depending on the amount of questions answered correctly. There was a period of time that I would spend quite a bit of my free time answering the questions thinking that I was contributing to a good cause. Then I someone passed by and told me that he knew someone that helped develop the 'Free Rice' site and told him that it was all a hoax. I was skeptical about what he told me and I thought that all the questions that I answered was for my own education instead of the benefit of others. After doing a search in 'Snopes' I was delighted to learn that 'Free Rice' does donate 10 grains of rice for answering questions correctly. Paid by advertisers on the bottom of the screen and distributed by the United Nations' World Food Programme.

I have also been sent emails saying that I could receive a free laptop if I forward the email to a certain number people. I have never been one to buy into pitches like this one or even forward mail, but I have had friends that said they have tried it before and it didn't get them anywhere. I was reassured when I saw this hoax on 'Snopes' and felt like I saved some time by not forwarding any gimmicks. I am glad that there are websites that I can visit authenticating information that is on the net.