24 Hour News on Twitter

 It's surprising the amount of information I encounter on Twitter.  Earlier today Forbes Magazine (@Forbes) tweeted, "Astronomers confirm that there are three potentially habitable planets around a nearby star."  Immediately this tweet caught my attention. I thought, is Forbes Magazine implying that there has been or potentially could be life on another planets? My interest was peaked and I clicked the link to Forbes' website (article).

   I would classify Twitter as Journal of Assertion, it is a continuous news culture. It's a live broadcast. While the writing is pretty scientific, it answers the basic questions of who is writing? what are they writing about? and why are they writing it? The information comes from credentialed experts, the European Space Observatory (ESO). Forbes Magazine is normally a source I trust. The articles written are usually sourced from experts, or first hand accounts. Normally, Forbes does an excellent job of staying politically neutral, but does tend to lean conservative at times.

  In general Twitter isn't the most reliable source. There have been more than a few instances when tweets have been inaccurate, or premature. For instance, when CBS Sports (@CBSSports) tweeted falsely about Joe Paterno's death, while he was still alive. On the other hand, Twitter and other social media channels can be an excellent source for news. As so long as readers are conscious of the source. The responsibility falls equally on the author to report accurately as on the reader to do proper due diligence.

  Web 2.0 entails users to be active participants online. Anyone online can publish articles of their own opinions. That however should not discount the actual news and the plenty of reliable sources available online.

- Chaunice