snopes and the IT smack-down

First: http://www.snopes.com

Bookmark it. Refer to it before you forward emails.



Anyway, this morning I received this email (link is to snopes article regarding the email).

Predicament isn't quite the right word, but still: This is a junk email. The user is wasting company time and resources (look at me, slaving for The Man!), and spreading an irrelevant but stupid rumor. If I just wear my IT Department hat, I'll immediately send the user, and maybe all employees, an email debunking this and requesting that they not misuse company resources. On the other hand, the person who sent the email did so because they were fooled into thinking that they were somehow warning their coworkers against a serious danger. Though it bears mentioning that the same user sent this email. Despite being (foolishly) wrong, the user was well meaning.

Like with my parents, who have sent this kind of stuff to me, I'm a little hesitant to debunk mislead forwarders, even privately, because it seems that people react to this kind of thing with defensiveness, embarrassment, and sometimes a little anger (at themselves for being foolish, and redirected on the messenger?), instead of being grateful at being set straight. I'd rather be set straight: "Hey Jerm, that thing you sent is bogus." But not everyone views being corrected the same way.