My last post before vacation got picked up by Mathew Ingram, TechCrunch, and some other blogs (thank you to all).  After reading those posts, comments, tweets, etc... I wanted to make one clarification.

I don't have a problem with people who use Twitter as another information source while they are trying to collect all the data then can. 

I do have a problem with logic like this (from MG Siegler of VentureBeat)...

But CNN isn’t quite as rosy about Twitter’s “reporting” capabilities as Ingram — after all, they don’t want it taking their jobs. Noting the widespread rumors and inaccuracies that began to pop up on Twitter about the attacks alongside the true reports, CNN warns that “while Twitter remains a useful tool for mobilizing efforts and gaining eyewitness accounts during a disaster, the sourcing of most of the news cannot be trusted.”

That, of course is true, but as Ingram notes, when some wrong information started appearing on Twitter about the attacks, other users were quick to correct the reports — and again, those corrections probably happened quicker than they would have through traditional media.

That's what I consider dangerous.  People who think Twitter can act as a replacement for mainstream media.  I have a problem with that message. 

For the record I actually looked and found no corrections for the examples of false information I used in my previous post but there were a lot of tweets so that doesn't mean they weren't there.

The reality of Twitter is that I'm not for abolishing it and even if I was it isn't going to happen.  So the false reporting is going to exist no matter what.  My issue is just when bloggers make it into a replacement for real reporting (as opposed to just another information feed on the web).

One Final Point...In the Techcrunch post Michael Arrington compares Twitter to Blogs (when pointing out that mainstream media has accepted blog posts as a valuable news source).  I don't think this is a fair comparison.  It's a topic I hope to write a whole post on some day but the basic point is this: To compare a blog to Twitter is like comparing it to a post on a message board.  Twitter is (a) too quick to use and (b) too easy to be anonymous and that's why you get such widespread inaccuracy.  The same isn't true of a blog.