Not Enough Information

May 27 - I just posted my Too Much Information blog, but it was in my desktop 'to edit' folder for over a month. I've seen the flip side of the coin and have come to realize that perhaps there are times when there's not quite enough information.

The recent events here in Thailand kept me glued to the TV and computer as I tried to get up-to-the-minute information about what was happening in our city. For once, I wanted AS MUCH INFORMATION as I could get. I wanted to know that my family was safe, and I wanted to know where that enormous, billowing cloud of black smoke was coming from that I could see from my front porch.

Besides the usual frustrations of lop-sided reporting and borderline propaganda by major news agencies, I found myself equally annoyed with self-proclaimed 'journalists' on Twitter. When anybody can don the "media" pass, you get a lot of misinformation.

I finally ventured out of hiding the other day and drove past a building that was supposedly set on fire during the rampaging after the crackdown. Not a trace of damage could be detected. Thanks to Twitter, I thought one of my favorite neighborhood movie theaters was torched. Nope; it's fine too.

Who are these Tweeting rumormongers? Is anyone holding them accountable? How am I supposed to know if they are telling it straight? Perhaps Twitter "journalists" should apply for a Reliability Rating. Joe On The Street has a 4-Star RR since he also writes for Time Magazine, but Mo On The Scene has a rating of 1 because he is accountable to no one. Do you want a mob of fans? followers? people who LIKE you? Then prove your reliability.

Until then, I say, "No thank you, Twitter, for your up-to-the-minute misinformation, I'm going back to The News at Nine where it's easier to spot the slant and tilt my head to compensate."