Social media can be a funny thing - 16 Apr 2012

Social media can be a funny thing at times. Especially when it comes to breaking news. Over the past couple of weeks I've kept an eye on social media, namely Twitter. With news of the late president of Malawi passing; the president of Mali stepping down and the president of Zimbabwe's health condition.

I had first seen the news that Mutharika had a heart attack on Twitter, followed by another tweet mentioning that he had been flown to South Africa for medical attention, later on I saw another tweet saying that he had not yet left Malawi, but would shortly be departing. After a while, I gave up trying to find out a relevant source who could confirm whether or not Mutharika had actually left Malawi. Tweets that I had read, well, at that moment, never mentioned that he went in to cardiac arrest. Nothing was mentioned about where exactly he was. Nothing was confirmed. At midnight, I searched again and followed updates on his condition, still nothing was confirmed. I found it highly frustrating not knowing what the real story was, and even more I didn't know what or who to believe with conflicting reports.

With the stepping down of the president of Mali, I however found out while watching television and turned to the social network to read how people were reacting to the news. There was however no conflicting reports around this matter, but it was interesting to see how it was reported. I believed the story more after seeing it on TV, rather than on Twitter. I did however find out on Twitter when the interim president would be sworn in.

Another piece of news that really boggled me was that of Robert Mugabe. There were too many mixed reports on Twitter, which led me to believe that it was just another hoax doing its rounds. From Tweets of the president on his death bed - to receiving urgent medical attention - to him on a private visit to arrange his daughter's studies in Singapore, I really didn't know what to believe. This went on for several days. With recent reports of the presidents' health, it wasn't easy to believe which report had the actual facts, although the Zimbabwean government dismissed reports that Mugabe had been hospitalised during his trip. It was only when I had seen footage of him back in Zimbabwe did I believe that he was well.

I've come to realise that you cannot believe everything and anything you read on social media. When it comes to breaking news, which is often instant (if you're on Twitter), how do you really know that the facts presented are credible?

In news this week: in Malawi, Patricia Kaliati is fired as Information Minister and CEO of MBC; The Daily Times urges the new president, Joyce Banda, to turn MBC into a state broadcaster and the Nigerian internet community has plans to gather information on the history of the internet in the country.

Have a great week!

Evan-Lee Courie @evan1985