Please...Before you hit your forward buttons!
Today I received an email from a coworker informing me that I needed to remove and throw away all of the Glade plug-ins that were in my house if I had any. The email went on to tell the tragic story of a family who had lost their home and all of their possessions to a house fire when a Glade plug in over heated and sparked an electrical fire in their home.
I have received many an email like this one causing undue panic and stress over everyday household products and to be fair, I've also forwarded my fair share of them before taking two seconds to check them out. A couple that comes to mind, that especially caused concern with me involved animal health and the loss of pets due to items such as Fabreez or the Swiffer WetJet. These emails of course caused me great distress as they are items I use every day around my two Chihuahuas.
In today’s hi-tech open society the internet no longer restricts our communications by the confines of borders or postage and long distance charges. As a result, an internet rumor can literally spread in a matter of seconds to millions of people and have potentially devastating effects on a company or individual even if it's not true. I wonder how many hard working Americans lost their jobs when the sales of Fabreez or the Swiffer Wet Jet began to slump because of these unfounded and untrue rumors.
I have found that if the email is unsigned and has very little if any verifiable facts or does not provide a location, it usually isn't true. The best place to check these types of emails out for verification BEFORE you send them on to someone else is snopes.com. It takes about two seconds to find out the origin or authenticity of these types of emails. If all else fails, write the company or manufacturer for an answer yourself. Often times, they will post answers to these types of things right on their website.
Please check it out before you hit your forward buttons!
I have received many an email like this one causing undue panic and stress over everyday household products and to be fair, I've also forwarded my fair share of them before taking two seconds to check them out. A couple that comes to mind, that especially caused concern with me involved animal health and the loss of pets due to items such as Fabreez or the Swiffer WetJet. These emails of course caused me great distress as they are items I use every day around my two Chihuahuas.
In today’s hi-tech open society the internet no longer restricts our communications by the confines of borders or postage and long distance charges. As a result, an internet rumor can literally spread in a matter of seconds to millions of people and have potentially devastating effects on a company or individual even if it's not true. I wonder how many hard working Americans lost their jobs when the sales of Fabreez or the Swiffer Wet Jet began to slump because of these unfounded and untrue rumors.
I have found that if the email is unsigned and has very little if any verifiable facts or does not provide a location, it usually isn't true. The best place to check these types of emails out for verification BEFORE you send them on to someone else is snopes.com. It takes about two seconds to find out the origin or authenticity of these types of emails. If all else fails, write the company or manufacturer for an answer yourself. Often times, they will post answers to these types of things right on their website.
Please check it out before you hit your forward buttons!
posted by Shane at 9:00 AM
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