Today, we're headed back to the mailbag to answer some more listener feedback sent in.

This time to episodes on particular fads.

This week's feedback seeks some data about the effects of slacktivism.

Some listeners who still insist that the health fads of oil pulling and cleansing diets

are real.

And an interesting alternate history opinion on human's ability to tolerate lactose.

All this and more is coming up right now on Skeptoid.

You're listening to Skeptoid.

I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com.

Listener feedback, fads.

Fads come and go.

They always have, they always will.

And whenever one is popular, it's most fervent adherence, frequently embrace it and defend

it with an almost religious fervor.

Consequently whenever I do an episode that undermines the value of some fad product

or activity, I get feedback that reflects that fervor.

Today we're going to the mailbag and respond to some listener emails about the episodes

I've done on certain fads.

We'll get started with the Facebook and Twitter fad of slacktivism, the idea that clicking

a like button does some good in the world.

JB and Chicago made a quasi-valid point on my episode criticizing slacktivism for being

not just ineffective but worse than ineffective.

...