The Speed of Bad News
It truly is amazing, the speed at which information moves in this day and age. I had heard a lot in the past about how quickly news spreads via Social Networking media like Twitter. Many times, Twitter will be talking about something several hours before the major networks have anything published. This is not always a good thing, however.
Today gave us an example of both the speed at which the information travels, and how quickly a rumor can turn to fact.
At approximately 11:15 am EDT today, the @BreakingNews Twitter account sent the following tweet:
Florida-based radio station KissFM reports that Patrick Swayze has reportedly died. BNO News is working to get more information.
At the time of this writing, at least 1,000 (a conservative estimate, I’m sure) tweets were sent pertaining to the subject. What was interesting was the ‘Telephone Game Effect’ that took hold almost instantly. The first tweet, relatively innocuous in the vein of ‘Hey, we heard this, we’re checking it out. Back to you soon’. Within minutes, however, poor Mr. Swayze was 3/4 buried.
Now, the kicker: He’s not dead. About 15 minutes ago, Mr. Swayze’s publicist stated that he is, in fact, alive. More information is coming in that he’s not doing well, and has possibly been hospitalized, but the fact remains: He’s not dead.
So, over the space of an hour, an unconfirmed report turned into absolute fact. Patrick’s Wikipedia entry was updated, corrected, updated again, and re-corrected, CNN had hastily posted and (just as quickly) taken down an article/obituary, and many people were led to believe this to be true.
So, kids, what can we learn from all of this?
News Organizations and outlets: Be very careful about what gets published. Today, people are more in tune to what’s happening in the world than they ever have before. News spreads in an instant, and it’s nearly impossible to put the genie back in the bottle. Once a false story gets out, the only thing that can be done is damage control. However, retractions and corrections can only get one so far. Credibility is a news org’s stock in trade, and any hits to the public’s perception can be deadly. Balancing the need to get out first with information with ensuring that the data is correct is an artform that very few, if any, have mastered.
Public: Be careful about what you read. Don’t always take the first source of reporting as fact. Many times, the first report that gets out either has some piece, or possibly the entire story incorrect. Take the time to verify and validate sources before coming to your conclusions. The ReTweet has become a great tool for helping to spread information. But, if the information being spread is incorrect, the signal-to-noise ratio (which is already pitifully weak) takes a major hit and makes it difficult for everyone else to be properly informed.