On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 1:21 AM, Paul Ferguson <[email protected]>wrote:
> And despite all the recent Twitter-enthusiasm about this > platform's unique power to alert millions of people in decentralized and > previously unavailable ways, there are quite a few reasons to be concerned > about Twitter's role in facilitating an unnecessary global panic about > swine flu. > > > First of all, I should point out from the very outset that anyone trying to > make sense of how Twitter's “global brain” has reacted to the prospect > of the swine flu pandemic is likely to get disappointed. The “swine > flu” meme has so far that misinformed and panicking people armed with a > platform to broadcast their fears are likely to produce only more fear, > misinformation and panic. > > I actually felt something similar yesterday. Yesterday's evening, at least 7 ambulances and a police car passed on the road with sirens on. There were probably more, but I didn't start counting right off. Since the last time I saw five ambulances in a row, was right after a suicide bombing a few years ago, I immediately thought that there has been another terror attack. I checked the news websites, and saw nothing about it. I decided to write on twitter (which also updates my facebook, and a small box on my blog. I know no one probably reads either, but still :). Then I thought that if I wrote that I thought it was a terror attack, I could start a panic. So I wrote that I saw the ambulances, without trying to analyze what happened. It turned out to be a bus accident, with many people wounded. -Imri -- Imri Goldberg -------------------------------------- www.algorithm.co.il/blogs/ -------------------------------------- -- insert signature here ----
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