I seldom do "forwards", but when I do share something I feel is relevant or interesting I try to fact check them. Snopes is the only one I'm familiar with ... my curiosity got me to read about Snopes, the website. It occurred to me that people are judging them, rather than the sources from which their research and information comes.
When I consult Snopes I don't even consider anything about the 'bones' of the website itself. After all, it is done by 'humans' ... humans are fallible. *smile* As with anything in life, you have to make your own decision of what you, personally, believe. I'm looking at other options now, for fact checking, along with Snopes. It will also be interesting, in the future, to see the differences in them as well.
From what I've read, the Snopes website was created in 1995 by Barbara and David Mikkelson, of California. Barbara is a Canadian citizen (unable to vote here), and David is "independent" in his political leanings, and only registered as a Republican one time.
Snopes, the name? It came from "the name of a family of often unpleasant people in the works of William Faulkner".
I don't know why, but it seems people are bent on attacking the integrity and credibility of this couple. I am reading about them, rather than jumping on a bandwagon to attack them, just because 'I can'. If I learn about them myself, my opinion is that, mine ... not everyone else's. I give them kudos for even taking on such a magnanimous task!
It seems they met, having a similar interest of research and in debunking untruths, and had no political interest. The media and masses have put them into a political soup, like it or not. They research what the public wants to know about ... politics and bashing seem currently popular.
I wonder how long it will be before someone like "Angie's List" will be getting slammed with suspicion, and rumor of bad intentions.
I was hoping to suggest a few other 'fact checking' websites, however, I'm not overly impressed with the ones I've found thus far. If I find any, I'll post the links later on.
BreakTheChain.org (this one had been around for 13 years, but is closed now) I like the message he left behind, to his fans and followers.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/
I'm learning to like and use this website more all the time. I guess new things sometimes take a bit to get used to, before you like or accept them.