During the 2008 presidential election, the Internet became a giant rumor mill. For example, there were the viral e-mails claiming that Barack Obama’s birth certificate was a fake. Or ones spreading the phony Sarah Palin quote, “God made dinosaurs 4,000 years ago”.

Some political scholars worry the Web could undermine democracy, by misinforming and polarizing voters. But Web sites and blogs don’t serve up the most influential rumors. Our in-boxes do. So says a study of e-mail in the journal Human Communication Research . [R. Kelly Garrett, " Troubling Consequences of Online Political Rumoring "]