Why in the world would anyone rely on social media for the news?
Hackers took over AP's Twitter account and sent out the fake Obama story, which some people actually believed for awhile.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/23/a … ?hpt=hp_t3
I'm dubious about such "advances" as online banking, online news and online anything! The original motivation for doing so much online was saving time and instant gratification, (like the primal satisfaction response of a baby getting a nipple shoved in its crying mouth).
A few weeks ago, I went to a new restaurant for breakfast At 6:45 a.m. thinking that they opened at 6:30. But they were not open and their business hours on the door said they would open at 7:00. As I returned to my car to wait the extra 15 minutes I felt a bit out of control, like my plans for the whole day had been shifted and ruined. I began to think of options nearby, but decided that just driving there would take the time before this place opened.
While I tried to ignore the pangs and rumbles of an outraged stomach, I reflected on why I felt so irritated. Would I have been so upset five or ten years ago? No. I had clearly become comfortable with an instant and on-demand lifestyle. Lights go on when I enter a room, I select what I want to view on TV now or later, I can record it or pause it, etc. and I can use the phone in my pocket to watch TV, take photos or read a book. I can Google first rather than waiting to look things up, and if I do need a book, the library at a nearby university is open 24/7. I realized in those 15 minutes I had come to expect to arrive when I want and get what I want and how I want, INSTANTLY. Now, I could just be an awful person, or I could be just like you. I might even be both.
I agree; why would anyone rely on social media for news and even for the incidental news bits one sees online. I think, with the advances of computers, we have regressed to a childhood state of needing instant gratification.
For many decades and even centuries, news methodology has evolved to its present state. Not perfect by any means, but much better than in the past. Now, however, with the rising need for instant gratification, it has taken a definite downhill tumble. To wit: the recent wrong reporting about the terrorist bombers in Boston.