How an urban folklore archive became the internet's primary arbiter of truth
In short: Long before modern fact-checking engines existed, a small corner of the Usenet newsgroup was busy cataloging the world's most persistent rumors. What began as a niche repository for urban legends evolved into a global authority, navigating corporate lawsuits, plagiarism scandals, and the high-stakes era of pandemic misinformation.
Founded in 1994 by David and Barbara Mikkelson, Snopes originally functioned as the Urban Legends Reference Pages. It grew from the duo's active participation in the Usenet newsgroup alt.folklore.urban (AFU), serving as an early online encyclopedia for digital folklore. The name itself was a nod to the unpleasant Snopes family in William Faulkner's literature, a username David Mikkelson had adopted during his time in AFU.
The site's trajectory has been marked by significant volatility. By 2010, it reached an audience of seven to eight million monthly unique visitors. However, the mid-2010s brought intense legal and financial friction. A dispute with the media management company Proper Media led to a 2017 lawsuit and a desperate GoFundMe campaign, which successfully raised $500,000 in just 24 hours to sustain operations. Ownership eventually shifted as Christopher Richmond and Drew Schoentrup acquired full control by 2022, ending long-standing disputes.
The platform's integrity faced a profound crisis in 2021 when an investigation by BuzzFeed News revealed that David Mikkelson had plagiarized material in 54 articles between 2015 and 2019 to drive traffic. While Mikkelson apologized for these 'serious lapses in judgment' and the site retracted 60 articles, the incident remains a significant chapter in its history. Despite these upheavals, Snopes continues to serve as a vital resource, applying consistent standards to everything from satirical news to the complex web of COVID-19 misinformation.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Snopes
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