Lies Twitter Told in 2009

Twitter is quickly becoming a major source of news, as we have seen this year stories have started breaking on twitter, before the news stations can even put something together people are talking about it on twitter. But what happens when twitter lies? People lose it and get carried away with rumors. This shows that Twitter cannot be relied upon as a major news source but rather a starting point of breaking news. I saw this little bit in the most recent issue of Wired Magazine and it made me laugh because I saw these tweets, and some of them I actually believed. Here is my top 5 list of the lies twitter told in 2009.

enjoy!

1. Bill O’Reilly is gay

This January the Fox News Twitter account was hacked, and rather than spread fear or propaganda, they decided to come clean and say that Bill O’ is gay.

2. Rick Sanchez is high on crack, and may not be coming into work today…

One of the funniest by far of all Twitter hacks had to be when Rick Sanchez of CNN got his twitter hacked in January, and declared that he had smoked a little too much crack that morning and that he may not be coming into work today. In an age where bosses are following their employees, it’s a good thing Twitter confirmed it was a part of a phishing attack.

3. Britney Spears is dead.

This year we have seen a slew of major celebrity deaths, and it’s only natural to assume that Brit would have been on that list. When a radio show in Dallas picked up the tweet the rumors exploded. First reports were that it was a car crash, driven by Justin Timberlake, others said it was an OD.

4. Pork Gives you swine flu.

This is pretty funny, and it shows just how dumb people are. When the swine flu began to become a major health concern many people wanted to let people know what was happening and what to do. Of course people made that assumption that since the flu was called “The SWINE flu” everyone figured that eating pork would give it to you. In that case this kid is screwed.

5. Jeff Goldblum Is Dead.

And finally, coming on the heels of the Michael Jackson death, and the Britney scare, twitter needed a less public figure to declare dead. Suddenly the trending topic became Jeff Goldblum. What’s even funnier about the whole situation? This rumor has been swirling since as early as 2006. The rumors stated that Jeff had died while filming a movie in New Zeland, when he wasn’t even in country. The original rumor was Tom Hanks in 2006, followed by Tom Cruise in 2008.

I would say the jury is still out as far as Twitter being a true news source, but one thing is for sure. As long as people have the internet, and means to spread rumors this will never end. So here’s to the Lies Twitter Told in 2009, and looking forward to 2010 and what we all take as truth!