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<\/a>News of Whitney Houston\u2019s death on Twitter beat the Associated Press reports by nearly half an hour.\u00a0 As was the case, Facebook postings also beat the official news releases.\u00a0 In this case, the news was sadly true.\u00a0 As also in the case of the killing of Osama bin Laden, Twitter reports were the first on the scene.\u00a0 Unfortunately, there are so many false and slanderous tweets out there as well.\u00a0 Hardly anyone one is fact checking and it\u2019s like the \u201cWild, Wild West\u201d when it comes to reports and rumors of virtually everything.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
One thing for sure is that the world of accurate reporting has certainly changed.\u00a0 Fading fast are the news bureaus that though they would race to be the first to report, usually checked their facts so as to limit their legal liability not to mention hoping to try to maintain a face of legitimate reporting.<\/p>\n
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Does it matter to you if you find out about something a half hour earlier?\u00a0 What if the tweet was inaccurate or biased, or worse yet false and slanderous? \u00a0What if it was about you and it was wrong?<\/p>\n
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Whitney Houston\u2019s sad demise for whatever reasons leaves yet another untimely tragic hole in the entertainment industry, but being the first to find out about it hasn\u2019t changed my life one single bit. \u00a0Nor do I relish reading everyone else \u00a0opinion on the subject of her untimely demise. \u00a0For every timely accurate piece of meaningful political news, there are hundreds of millions of meaningless minutia and advertising on Twitter that causes me to ask, \u201cFor what purpose?\u201d<\/p>\n
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For a moment, also consider the lack of attention to this newfound media as opposed to an awareness and appreciation of your surroundings?\u00a0 What is the cost in productivity, in distracted lives, etc.?<\/p>\n
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Have we developed such shallow existences whereby our hero worship has us more invested in celebrities and meaningless \u201cnews\u201d as opposed to being invested in our own lives and those we directly touch? \u00a0Perhaps there is a very real human cost to Twitter, and it may be more dear than you\u2019ve ever imagined.<\/p>\n
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I have enjoyed and embraced much of the social media, but much of what\u2019s on Twitter fails to captivate me.\u00a0 For me, Twitter\u2019s the largest source of the \u201cnew noise pollution\u201d on the planet.\u00a0 And if I am not careful, I will begin to become more fascinated in others than observant of myself and those around me.\u00a0 Now that would truly be a tragedy \u2013 fast and true.<\/p>\n
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And to paraphrase Twitter, “follow what’s important to you.” \u00a0So what would that be?<\/p>\n
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P.S. \u00a0Ooops! \u00a0I just twittered this article out to my “followers.”<\/p>\n
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