A shock site is a website that is intened to be offensive or disturbing to its viewers, containing materials of high shock value which is also considered distasteful and crude, and is generally of a pornographic, scatological, or extremely violent nature. Some shock sites display a single picture, animation, or video clip, or a small gallery, and are often passed around via email or disguised in posts to discussion sites as a hoax in an attempt to trick readers into following the link to the website. Other shock sites are merely websites that openly display shocking material.