The Snopes newsroom does more than just slap truth ratings on rumors. It also publishes stories without such labels that flex its ability to identify quality sources and sort truth from fiction.
Among such stories, the eight below attracted more readers than any others in 2024, per our website’s traffic analytics. They ranged in variety from a tale about a mother supposedly abandoning her child in a vacant house to a look into whether there’s a practical reason slow cookers have holes in their lids and they’re ranked from highest to lowest in terms of readers.
Snopes’ archives contributed to this article.
Heading into 2025, we’ll continue to bring context and clarity to the day’s hottest claims, no matter their level of absurdity. You can submit tips for our fact checkers to consider and, if you find our work useful and want to help sustain it, consider becoming a member.
In January, a Facebook page posted a picture of an infant sleeping in a hospital bed with a story about a mother who supposedly abandoned her 1-year-old child in a vacant house and returned years later. Evidence indicated at least some truth to the story, and we tracked down the origin of the photo that was completely unrelated.
A rumor made the rounds on Facebook and Instagram in April claiming, “Toddler Is Missing For 2 Days Until Vet Checks Her Pit Bull.” While the particular story was not true, the tale appeared to have been inspired by a real-life disappearance of a little girl and her pit bull.
In early 2024, Snopes readers asked us to evaluate 1440 as a company and news source. The media company’s newsletter had over 3.2 million subscribers at the time and pitched itself as, “All your news. None of the bias.” In short, the newsletter generally sticks to the facts and does not favor one political leaning over another.
In spring, multiple Facebook pages posted a vague rumor about Britain’s Prince William supposedly making a new announcement about his wife Kate, the Princess of Wales. The rumor circulated after Kate disclosed she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. The posts about the supposed “sad announcement” were misleading and scammy.
In the aftermath of the docuseries “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” rumors circulated about Amanda Bynes — including the unsubstantiated claim that she was impregnated at age 13 by Dan Schneider, a former Nickelodeon writer and producer. There was no concrete evidence to support the allegations.
A picture went viral supposedly showing a meat thermometer fitting perfectly in a hole on a slow cooker’s lid. So, was that the true purpose of the common design feature? We reached out to manufacturers of the household appliance with the question.
Some social media users expressed outrage when they saw the winner of a beauty pageant in Alabama. It was clear many commenters did not know the differences between various pageants in the U.S., each of which gives varying levels of importance to physical appearance, skills and personality.
Under the leadership of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, Project 2025 is a real, all-encompassing initiative to transform the American bureaucracy. The plan centers on a roughly 1,000-page document that gives the executive branch more power, reverses Democrat-led policies and specifies numerous department-level changes.
