You tell me: Why do people forward those emails

August 3, 3:27 PMInternet ExaminerKindall Nelson

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Cute is always "in", but forwarding junk emails is "out"!

Yes, "those" emails. You know the ones. The ones that you are pretty sure on your first read through were written by someone who is, at the very least, misinformed.

Some are political, but some are just plain silly. "If you don't forward this email to 10 people in the next 10 minutes then something terrible will happen to you." Some of them go a step farther: "I am sending this now because last time I read this and didn't forward it, my cat died the very next day."

There are those emails that promise something good will come out of forwarding the email. Still, no matter how you look at it, there is no way that people can really believe Bill Gates is sending out $1000 bills, Applebees is giving away free gift cards, or anyone will recieve a free laptop if enough people forward an email.

In addition to all of this, there are many sites where the general public can use a few simple keywords to check out whether or not an email is a hoax. A few of those include:

• Snopes
• Urban Legends
• Hoax Busters
• Truth or Fiction
• Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
• DHS is for hoaxes that include federal crimes or lottery schemes

Dan Zarrella, an expert in social media and viral marketing, says "Evolutionarily, people have a motivation to be susceptible to social warnings and pass them on to their family and community."

Others, including this blogger, call those that forward emails without checking them out first "sheeple" because they do what others do, just because others do it (like sheep).

 Now, you tell me: Why do you (or people you receive email from) forward the forwards that enter the inbox. Do you ever check out the email and reply to the sender with the correct information (or worse 'reply all' with the correct info)?

Leave a comment below and check back to see what other people are saying!