News isn't Funny Business

News travels a bit too fast these days. Ashton Kutcher, whom I proudly follow on Twitter, mentioned something about Wyclef Jean announcing his candidacy for president of earthquake-ravaged Haiti this afternoon. Well, that brought memories of a few months back. No, not of Ashton Kutcher's. He doesn't follow me yet, let alone knows I exist. Pause, for sadness. But there are sadder things that happened in the past few days. One of which, I attribute to the ease with which people use social media networks.

There were two other hashtags in my twitter feed that caught my attention- both speaking of people and places close to my heart. The first was "#bill cosby died" and the second, "#pakistan floods." Since I grew up in Pakistan, loving The Cosby Show, it hurt. Immediately, I 'googled' Cosby, only to find out that it was an Internet hoax and someone had some fun with Twitter. Apparently, this was the fourth death scare for this person who is widely admired. Bill Cosby even called in on Larry King Live last night to thrash the falsehood of that single tweet (which cannot be more than a mere 140 typed characters) and also expressed how displeasing this was to him.

So, that happened three times already and no one has been held responsible which is precisely what we are able to avoid in "real" news media. News brought to us by social media when not confirmed by credible media organizations is cause for alarm.

However, we have been using and depending on social media even more lately and it has worked for the most part. Wyclef Jean in Haiti and the whole social media revolution that aided journalists and relief agencies was a prime example of how it served the cause. Somehow, it set the precedent and now we see how it is being employed with the flood situation that has wreaked havoc in Pakistan. Several agencies and individuals are spreading the word and in this instant social media networking tools are aiding the news media. There is a real loss of lives in Pakistan and dying is no funny business.

Another thing to be careful about takes us back to the memory of hoax organizations that sprung up during the Haiti disaster and how people ended up donating money to ghost non-profits etc. If people were to exploit good Samaritans who are trying to help, the idea is just as disturbing as the thought of losing a celebrity we all love.

We are still in the process of learning and educating the public and what we need to note as perpetrators and consumers of social media is, that there are always some things better left unsaid. Additionally, there is a need to recognize that as responsible individuals who live and thrive in society, there are always rules to follow which may also be unwritten.

Photo Credit: Robert Scoble