Social Media
The Foolproof Way to Separate Fact from Fiction on Twitter
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 9:34 AM |Do you believe what you read in Twitter? This is from an ABC News story on Twitter:
Despite the micro-blogging site’s [Twitter] many successes — as a lifeline during emergencies, a direct line between the famous and their fans and an open line for anyone with something to share — Twitter’s instantaneous nature can make it all too easy to pass along fiction as fact.
If writers believe everything they read on Twitter and use it as a single resource, then they would report:
- Jeff Goldblum fell to his death.
- Amber Alert on kidnapped three-year-old in a Mitsubishi.
- Grand Central Station was evacuated.
Nothing on Twitter or the Internet is safe. When I saw the tweets about Zach Braff supposedly committing suicide, I searched for non-Twitter resources to confirm this as I was not going to blindly retweet (RT) the news. Within five minutes, I confirmed it was another cruel hoax.
Foolproof Tip#1: Check tweets before you RT.
These hoaxes and other silly tweets can make the trending list in Twitter. I recall a popular DJ asking his fans to tweet about a topic so it would land on Twitter’s trending list. And it did.
Foolproof Tip #2: Know that Twitter trending lists don’t always reflect fact.
While working on a story, I came across a needed statistic. It sounded valid, but I wouldn’t take the article’s word for it. So I set out to find the primary resource, or another research that produced similar data. I found nothing. I remember my daughter working on a history assignment that discussed the difference between primary resources and other resources. She is learning a valuable skill that needs teaching at an early age as possible because of the Internet.
Foolproof Tip #3: Validate sources with a primary resource and other resources.
Yes, I first learned about the miracle on the Hudson and Iran’s protests on Twitter. When something pops up, I start reading and putting the pieces together before I start believing and retweeting.
As I drafted this post, I received Matt Singley’s Blog Thoughts update. In it, he echoes the theme of misinformation and the problem with assumptions. Short version: Singley refers to Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist MLK Day post. Trunk talks about the All-Star Rodeo event that she calls “racist rodeo” where Ronald McDonald makes an appearance. At the end of her post, she encourages her readers to tweet: “@McDonalds Racism is not okay and neither is hate. Please stop your support of the All-Star Rodeo.” Tweetmeme records 256 retweets of this message and Twitter search for “@mcdonalds racism” has pages of this. Singley called All-Star Rodeo and confirmed that McDonald’s was indeed NOT a sponsor and posted a comment to this effect.
Unless you’re working with the primary source, verify secondary resources no matter the medium. Twitter is just one medium that makes it easy to spread fiction that looks like fact.
What foolproof tips do you have to verify your sources?
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8 comments
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Peggy Dolane, Meryl Evans. Meryl Evans said: The Foolproof Way to Separate Fact from Fiction on Twitter: Do you believe what you read in Twitter? This is from … http://bit.ly/7f9Kbb [...]
Good advice. With the emphasis on speed fact checking appears to be a dying art.
Fred Schlegel’s blog …Filtering Ideas – Yodeling Pickle
Meryl,
Thank you for blogging about this topic. Because of the instant nature and ease of use of Twitter we can all fall into the trap of retweeting false information.
As a researcher with over 15 years experience, I come across false information that is taken as fact all the time. And I have seen many people who you would expect to know and do better using the false information.
A rule of thumb is to find three independent sources to verify information, and pay attention to the original source. Good places to use information are universities, government sources, watchdog agencies (nothing is ever fool proof. Questions to ask is the person’s motivation for presenting the Information? Is the person objective or biased?
If your readers are interested they could read these two posts that I wrote:
How to Analyze Information http://theinvisiblementor.com/2009/09/18/how-to-analyze-information/
Because Everyone is Saying It, Doesn’t Make It Right
http://theinvisiblementor.com/2009/09/29/because-everyone-is-saying-it-doesnt-make-it-right/
Thanks for dealing with this subject. Avil Beckford
Avil Beckford’s blog …The Invisible Mentor Interviews Lynn Kahle
I probably should check sources more than I do, but I generally only RT blog posts of bloggers I’ve followed for a while. This was a good reminder Meryl. It’s true, you can’t believe everything you read on Twitter. That is sad to say.
Davina’s blog …I Find Stillness
One of the unintended consequences of social media is that it has allowed anyone to be an instant reporter. Lots of folks have an ax to grind and others are just to lazy to do their research. They have no idea of the damage they cause, or they just don’t care.
A good reminder to not take things at face value.
George
George Angus’s blog …Netbookz! Umm, Bookflix? Aw Heck, Just Read the Post
Hi Meryl, thanks for including my recent article in this post! You’ve written down some great thoughts here and you are absolutely right…we need to check facts before we publish AND retweet. I see a lot of foolishness get retweeted constantly. Thanks for being a voice of reason!
@Fred, I believe you’re right that speed is what has caused this problem. Being first has become more important than being accurate. Not good.
@Avil, thanks for the great tips and pointing to your blog entries. I am sure others will appreciate it as much as I do.
@Davina, of course we all have folks that we feel we can trust all of the time. I didn’t want to put that in the post for fear the important message would get cluttered.
@George, and many writers fear for their careers because of this. But I believe over time people will return to what’s important: accurate and unbiased reporting (aside from those who get paid to do opinion pieces).
@Matt, thanks for posting the story. I was very surprised by it and felt we all need a reminder. As a writer, I would not do readers justice if I didn’t check my facts.
[...] The Foolproof Way to Separate Fact from Fiction on Twitter: Crowds can make us believe something that’s not true. [...]
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