but as a result, I ended up responsible for all family emails to our family – my partner just deletes on sight most emails from his family, because they’re 90% junk forwards. The other 10% is important, but he doesn’t have the patience to wade through the maddening crap to get to the invitations and announcements.

Actually had a professor of business tell our real estate class that starting in 2013 we’ll all have to pay a 3.8% tax on the sale of our homes to support Obamacare. A little Snopesing proved that wrong…and revealed that the source of his error was one of those forwarded-forwarded-forwarded tales.

Sometimes I’ll “reply all” with the Snopes link. Not nice…it embarrasses the sender. But don’t they deserve it? At least it does get one off their mailing list.

I just don’t read this stuff – click. And the careful deployment of key words, such as ANGEL, PRAYER, SOLDIER, CANCER do not sway me one bit. I know people feel like they want and need to share their fears and thoughts, but how about just writing me your own words — those I will read. Honestly, Please Pray For seems to be the new Have A Nice Day — a quick, glib way to appear concerned and connected without having to actually be concerned or connected.

Not my intention to berate belief or prayer, or people’s deep need to feel connected. On a personal level, someone’s request for prayers is deeply felt and responded to, even by a pagan such as I. But anonymous urban legends and barely concealed attempts to impose an orthodoxy of beliefs (prayers, etc.) on people you barely know is just un-American. I’m going afield here, but it touches on the disturbing trend of using religion defensively as a cudgel against non- or different believers. Of course, someone forwarding stuff is probably just responding sincerely to the emotional appeal of such things and intends no harm. But the presumption of shared faith is a dangerous and surely outmoded one in our pluralistic society.

Oh, Donna — sorry! not trying to open the hell gates here — I did delete a more pointed diatribe since I didn’t want fatwah declared on either of us. This was a GREAT piece, and I hadn’t actually thought about the threat of glurge. Or know the term. Thank you, as always for clear thinking and reporter’s clear eye.

“The daily receipt of urban legends, hateful “humor” and misleading bulletins that make the Internet not just spammier, but also a darker, sadder and angrier place.” – SO TRUE!!

Donna, your reporting instincts would never have let something like this go…no matter what your friend (or others) say, it’s always the right thing to mention the truth.