Question

We all have them. On Facebook, twitter, even in email. That friend (or friends) that rebroadcast every hoax from abandoned puppies, abducted little girls or whichever political outrage email is currently en vogue.

How can I educate my friend(s) who continue to do this and keep them as friends?

If it only happened once or twice, I am sure I could just point out the appropriate page on Snopes.com or similar. I am specifically referring to serial offenders that actually think they are providing a service to the world.

Answer 1

When it comes to hoaxes and non-techie users, being gentle is really the wrong tactic.

It's only a matter of time before they fall for something that actually harms them, by stealing their information, or something else. They need to learn, and quickly.

Personally I reply all with a link to snopes or elsewhere, explaining that it's a hoax. Then I include this line: "Every email that asks you to forward to all your friends is a hoax, or a joke by somebody that just wants to clog people's email."

Answer 2

I always just direct them to the appropriate debunk on snopes.com. Often I "reply all" so all of his/her other victims get a clue and, I hope, don't forward it on.

I've gotten many fewer of these sorts of messages over the last few years. Either the people who used to send me these things have got a clue, or I just annoyed them enough that they removed me from their e-mail lists. Win for me either way.

Answer 3

I agree with the comments on using Snopes, but since your question asked how to explain the hoax gently, I would often start my reply by something like, "I saw this before and someone told me it's a hoax. Here's a link to an article on Snopes." Depending on the persion, I sometimes follow up with a quick explaination of what the Snopes.com site is all about.

Answer 4

As a complement to all the other people who mentioned Snopes: I typically do a Google search for some key words and reply with a few of the top links, as well as a suggestion to repeat the same search. That way, someone who doesn't want to believe something just because they read it on one particular website (Snopes) will still have reason to take my reply seriously.

Answer 5

The first time or two I'll point them a debunking site like snopes. They will either get the hint or not. if they don't I simply delete their e-mails. If it gets too bad I'll add them to my spam filter blacklist.

One more note, while I don't want to start a flame war, in my opinion snopes itself is not always accurate. It is run by a couple who expend a great deal of energy in trying to keep up with all of hoaxes out there, but they do occasionally put their own slant on things. I am somewhat, OK very, skeptical about anything I read on the internet, including snopes. It is still one of the best sites for debunking hoaxes, but I would not consider their views to the final definitive answer on some subjects.

Answer 6

i tend to reply briefly to all, something like this:

fear not, it's a hoax. see [insert snopes.com link here]

over time, they either learn to be more skeptical, check snopes.com themselves, or take me off of their junk-mail-forwarding list

all of which are Good Things

the rare item that is actually true gets a similar reply-to-all:

oddly enough, this is a true story - and the details 
make it even better, see [insert snopes.com link here]

once again, to subtly encourage the use of snopes.com

Answer 7

I just talk to the person -- separately, away from others, and preferably not over e-mail. I tell them that when they get something, anything like that, the first thing they should do is validate it over on snopes.com. (Something you're already doing for them.)

If I suspect they can't handle that, then I just let it be. I learned a long time ago that some people just don't want to be corrected, even when they're not only wrong, but possibly dangerously so. :)

Answer 8

I just don't make friends with the easily led :) Forwarding a mass email is a fast track to be flagged as a spammer.

Answer 9

No big problem. I just write back to the forwarder, letting them know that it's either a hoax, or a scam or some sort of pyramid scheme. Only rarely do I get any more scam emails from them. Even the dumbest of my friends normally learn after the second one. I haven't had a circular type email for months. As far as I know, my friends are still friends.

Answer 10

I get pretty forceful about it, because sometimes they're just mass forwarded crap that doesn't state facts and therefore there's nothing to debunk (send this annoying joke to 15 friends!). the first time I ask them nicely, the second time I give them a final warning, and the third time I send that message back to them about 25 times or until they call me screaming that I'm clogging up their inbox. I thank them for understanding how it feels now.

Answer 11

I explain them nicely and easy (I don't undestand what "gentle" explaining is - I'm not hitting anyone in the process), and then show them a few pages which explain the most famous hoaxes.

If they still think it's the real McCoy, I usually find them a few examples, ... generally, intelligent people don't have a problem with it.

As for the incoming mails, usually a mail saying "stop sending me that" works. If not, and if they still think it's real, I just delete it on my side. Can't say that those 5 seconds per day (time for deleting such stuff) bothers me that much.