Twitter needs to grow up and take responsibility, some say

May 05, 2013

Twitter, the increasingly popular microblogging service, has come under quite a bit of criticism in the past few weeks. Users of the platform, which describes itself as an "information-sharing network" are struggling with what to do about false information being spread around. It may not sound like a big deal for individual users to let a white lie slip about some status update. But during the past few weeks there have been some more concerning examples of misinformation spreading across the social forum. For example, Twitter users (as well as those on other popular sites such as Reddit.com) were quick to identify certain individuals as possible culprits of the Boston Marathon bombings days after the attacks, including a Brown University student who had been missing and was later found dead with no connection to the Boston incident. Rumors about whether suspects had been captured or arrested streamed through Twitter users timelines as breaking news unfolded after the attacks, some of it true and some not. After the commotion of the marathon incident seemed to have settled down a week later, another black eye for Twitter popped up when the Associated Press's Twitter account was hacked, and perpetrators sent out fabricated updates from the venerable news agency's Twitter feed reporting that the White House had been attacked and President Obama injured. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Link: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/050113-twitter-broken-269315.html#tk.rss_all