The electronic message claims Microsoft will pay you to send chain e-mails, or that a detergent manufacturer is Satanic, or that a child was fatally pricked by a needle in a fast-food restaurant's playground. Such false urban legends spread through the Internet like wildfire, misleading people and unfairly damaging corporate reputations, says UAB marketing and Internet expert Warren Martin, Ph.D. Because of the Web, disseminating such hoaxes can wreak untold havoc with lightning speed. "People should check out what they're passing on. Passing a rumor is like shaking a feather pillow in the air. To undo the damage you'd have to find every feather, which is impossible." Internet sites devoted to urban legends are one resource, but people need to use common sense, too.
Contact Nick Patterson, Media Relations, 205-934-8858 or [email protected].
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