The term "urban legend" describes untrue or no longer true stories which are presented as currently true. They generally provoke strong feelings and a need to act in the reader. Recent urban legends have included:

• Andy Rooney made a plea for intolerance on 60 Minutes. (untrue)
• Athiests are trying to ban all religious broadcasting. (untrue)
• Members of Congress don't pay into Social Security. (untrue)

Sound familiar? Chances are that you've forwarded one of these on to your friends. Don't get embarrassed. Get educated!

Here's what to do the next time you have the urge to send something on:

1. Go to Snopes, also known as The urban Legends Reference Pages.
2. Type 2 or 3 key words from the email you've received into the 'Search' box. For example: "andy rooney correctness". Be aware that there may be more than one version of your urban legend out there. Names and numbers are the most frequently changed items. Try to avoid these if possible, but still get to the heart of the subject. Look for what makes the email unique.
3. Be sure to look through all of the search results before giving up.
4. If you don't find the email that you received, repeat these steps with Google (you'll only need to look through the first 2 or 3 pages of results), but add "hoax" to your key words.
5. If the email you received doesn't show up in the search results, your email is probably (but not definitely) safe to send on. See the Time Killers section to decide whether or not you'd want to send it even if the information were correct.

Next Chapter: Email Petitions