I think my first encounter with Snopes was via the Neiman-Marcus Chocolate Cookie Recipe urban legend, probably back in 1996. That particular urban legend had originally made the rounds well before the World Wide Web, so I guess it was only fitting that it should be one of the first that many of us encountered via our then relatively rare email accounts. It's an accepted truism that porn has been at the forefront of the use of new technologies (including print). Jonathan Coopersmith, in a 1998 article extensively reviewed that history, and noted:
The printing press, which made mass production of books, pamphlets, prints and cards possible, extended that audience to tens of thousands. As important, the printing press brought the product to the consumer, vastly lowering barriers to consumption.Rumors, like porn, have made good, and early, use of whatever technologies have been available to them to make their rounds. It makes sense that we became inundated by them (and by porn) not only on the web, but in listservs, mail, and whatever was available.