Snopes 101

Question 1

Why are AP articles on Snopes.com?

Accepted Answer

Our priority is original fact-checking and investigative reporting, however, Snopes also publishes a small selection of Associated Press (AP) articles to help us address as many reader queries as possible. Our team works hard but we can’t cover it all. With an AP subscription we can more quickly respond to queries, as well as make search results on Snopes.com more reliable for loyal readers. The AP describes itself as an independent, not-for-profit cooperative that has been reporting the news for almost two centuries. The AP is widely esteemed for its reporting, evidenced by a pile of prestigious awards, not to mention the fact that it is distributed by thousands of publications and newsrooms around the world. We don’t run everything they publish. AP articles and photographs you find on Snopes.com are curated and posted to our site by members of our editorial team. These stories may include U.S. politics, entertainment, and breaking news, among other topics. We try to select stories that will interest and serve our readers the most. Wondering how to identify an AP story on Snopes.com? All AP stories are clearly labeled. Check either the category label at the top of the story or the byline located underneath the headline. For example:

Have a question or concern about an AP story you read on Snopes.com? Consider reaching out to AP directly. Read the latest AP stories on Snopes here.

Question 2

What's the deal with Snopes' rating system?

Accepted Answer

Distilling the veracity of a topic or event into a one-word assessment can be challenging. Sometimes labeling an article “true” or “false” is not appropriate to the question at hand, or it doesn’t tell the whole story. Our rating system has a variety of labels, so we can be accurate, clear and fair. It’s important to take note of the claim statement on each article, as the specific wording of the claim is what the rating evaluates.

Question 3

What makes Snopes a reliable resource?

Accepted Answer

Snopes has been answering questions on the internet for more than two decades (since before Google existed, even) and millions of readers are still consulting us every week. We like to think our portfolio of work speaks for itself. But we wouldn’t be particularly reliable fact-checkers if we didn’t corroborate that. In a profile on BBC News, Snopes is described as “the go-to bible for many fact-checkers.” “I haven’t done a paper in the past 10 years that I haven’t also checked to see what Snopes had to say about it first,” Patricia Turner, professor of folklore at UCLA, told the Los Angeles Times. “Anything that raises hairs on the back of my neck, I go to Snopes.” “Do the Snopes.com articles reveal a political bias?” wrote FactCheck.org. “We reviewed a sampling of their political offerings, including some on rumors about George W. Bush, Sarah Palin and Barack Obama, and we found them to be utterly poker-faced.” And in 2019 Popular Mechanics included Snopes on its list of “The 50 Most Important Websites of All Time.” (Find more media coverage here.) Of course, we don’t expect anyone to accept us as the ultimate authority on any topic. No single source, no matter how reliable, is infallible. Anyone can make mistakes. Or get duped. Or have a bad day at the fact-checking bureau. However, unlike so many anonymous individuals who create and spread unsigned, unsourced messages across the internet, we show our work on Snopes.com. Research materials used in the preparation of any fact check are listed so that readers who wish to verify the validity of our information may check those sources for themselves. Just click the “Sources” button at the bottom of an article. Feeling skeptical? That’s probably a good sign. Keep looking for more information. We will, too. See something we missed? Contact us.

Question 4

What does 'snopes' mean?

Accepted Answer

Snopes is the name of a family of characters who appear throughout the works of American writer William Faulkner.

When David Mikkelson, creator of Snopes.com, began publishing on the internet in the late 1980s, he worried even back in those relatively uncrowded days that no one would remember yet another David. He was inspired to adopt a nom-de-Net, selecting one that honored those fictional Faulknerian characters, and began signing his newsgroups posts as “snopes.”

Over the years snopes established a reputation for his ability to thoroughly fact-check and debunk false claims. When it came time to name our domain, snopes.com seemed the obvious choice.

Wondering about the pronunciation? It rhymes with “soaps.”

Question 5

Is Snopes partisan?

Accepted Answer

Are we Republicans or Democrats? Conservatives or liberals? Administration supporters or a secretly-funded tool of the opposition? According to our readers, we’re all of the above. Somehow we performed the remarkable feat of being decidedly biased in every possible direction.

Question 6

Is Snopes hiring?

Accepted Answer

Thank you for your interest. If we are recruiting for any positions, we will make the information available on our Careers page.

Question 7

How about creating a Snopes site for kids?

Accepted Answer

That would be difficult because urban legends and viral memes are often expressions of adult fears and concerns and, as such, often convey those messages via stories that are unsuitable for children.

Question 8

I spotted a typo on Snopes.com. How do I report it?

Accepted Answer

Corrections are always welcome; but keep in mind that text appearing inside a bordered box with a colored background is either an example of collected folklore or a quotation from another source, not our own writing. Because these items are pieces of folklore, we reproduce them exactly as we find them and do not edit them to correct orthographical errors. Use our contact form to alert us to any mistakes or typos you think Snopes, and not a quoted source, has perpetrated.

Question 9

Why are some Snopes stories rated 'Legend'?

Accepted Answer

An “urban legend” is not the same thing as a “fictional tale” or an “apocryphal anecdote,” although many people mistakenly use the term in that sense (e.g., “That’s not true; it’s just an urban legend!”). A tale is considered to be an urban legend if it circulates widely, is told and retold with differing details (or exists in multiple versions), and is said to be true. Whether or not the events described in the tale ever actually occurred is irrelevant to its classification as an urban legend. For example, the tale about a student who mistakes a math problem thought to be unsolvable for a homework assignment and solves it is an urban legend, even though something very similar did once happen in real life. The tale is still an urban legend, however, because over the years many of its details (i.e., when it happened, where it happened, the identity of the student, the reaction of the student’s instructor) have changed as it has spread.

Question 10

Who works at Snopes?

Accepted Answer

Snopes has been fact-checking folklore, urban legends, hoaxes, memes, and rumors on the internet for more than 25 years. It began as something of a hobby and has grown considerably since. Now our team of fact-checkers, developers, and support staff is probably greater than you can fit in a large passenger van, although we haven’t scientifically tested that yet.

Question 11

How can I arrange for a Snopes staff member to speak at my event?

Accepted Answer

Thank you for thinking of us. Please send a complete summary of the event details using our Contact Form.

Question 12

Does Snopes work with Facebook?

Accepted Answer

We did participate in Facebook’s third party fact-checking experiment, along with about a half dozen other fact-checking organizations, starting at the end of 2016. But after contributing to that effort for two years, we elected not to renew our participation in that program.

Information Desk