tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255284583537167032.post8294740111083899310..comments2023-04-17T07:17:39.692-04:00Comments on Social Media for Professional Writers: Social Media (Ir)responsibilityUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255284583537167032.post-52264375130085541972010-02-03T14:50:04.414-05:002010-02-03T14:50:04.414-05:00There seems to be a tendency for people to attribu...There seems to be a tendency for people to attribute more credibility to the written word than to the spoken. And throughout the history of journalism, there have been innumerable cases where falsehoods were reported as fact. Take a trip to the following web address to see the top ten false headlines of the twentieth century. http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-erroneous-newspaper-headlines.php<br /><br />If legitimate newspapers with strong reputations for good reportage can make the kind of errors displayed at the website, how much more likely is it that factual errors will be made in the online environment? And so far I've only been talking about legitimate publishers, public and private, who are trying to do a good job. <br /><br />What about the people out there who are deliberately trying to mislead, the National Enquirer types of the internet? As Jennifer and Lydie pointed out, the lack of accountability in the viral world (combined with some people's need for attention at any cost) leads to some real doozies being passed off as fact. I don't know what the answer is, but my heart tells me that relying on the nobler instincts of faceless individuals who don't have to sign their work isn't it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255284583537167032.post-84712360491601699522010-01-31T22:35:25.973-05:002010-01-31T22:35:25.973-05:00You’ve made a great point, Annesh. The public sho...You’ve made a great point, Annesh. The public should take responsibility for posting misleading information on the web. After the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, I received several texts, tweets, and messages on Facebook saying, “American Airlines has offered to fly doctors and nurses to Haiti free of charge.” My father has always taught me to be skeptical of anything ‘free’ so I called American Airlines in hopes of getting more information. Thankfully, I did my fact checking before re-tweeting or re-posting the message I had received. I can imagine the overwhelming calls American Airlines received from people all over the country inquiring about their ‘free’ trip. <br /><br />Like CNN, I had a hard time believing that Michael Jackson had really passed away. I believe I heard it first on ABC. I was a bit skeptical so I turned the channel to CNN. I’m glad CNN does its own fact checking before jumping on the band wagon.Lylahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08461758417234358333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5255284583537167032.post-67945679861958097812010-01-31T20:09:59.566-05:002010-01-31T20:09:59.566-05:00My husband works for "the most trusted name i...My husband works for "the most trusted name in news" and tells me they have a hard time keeping up with bloggers simply because of their strict policy to fact check every report twice. This was illustrated in stark detail when Michael Jackson was reported dead. We were both watching CNN and playing on Twitter. While Twitter blew up with the news, CNN didn't say anything for quite a while. (I believe it was 30 minutes to an hour.) My husband said that was because they were fact checking. I think it was the day after that the the rumor that Jeff Goldblum fell off a cliff in New Zealand started circulating. Once again, a rumor spread through social media without fact checking. <br /><br />While its great when a blogger or a Twitter user gets a "scoop," breaking news on social media is indeed a double edged sword. Hopefully this trend of bogus news stories will simply make people more skeptical about where they get their news.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com