Brad Marley

Late on Saturday night, the Twittersphere blew up with the news that Joe Paterno had died.

Except he didn’t.

Judging by this hashtag, it appears CBS incorrectly broke the story.

Even though his family confirmed that he did pass away a few hours later, I think it’s still worth mentioning that this speed-over-accuracy media atmosphere we are all a part of is troubling.

It’s troubling because, besides a clever hashtag, there seems to be no repercussions for spreading such an untrue story, leading most to believe that this wasn’t a big deal.

But I think it is a big deal.

Our country’s freedom of the press is something we all take for granted. A morning newspaper on the doorstep has been, for most of us, as American as baseball and Occupy Wall Street. But as social media continues its rapid ascent as our main source of news-gathering, we risk losing maybe our best source of news-gathering.

I’m talking, again, about the newspaper. (Don’t think I didn’t think about calling this post “Why We Need Newspapers, Part 2.”)

Newspapers don’t make mistakes like this. They have the luxury — yes, the luxury — of checking their facts. It’s been a long time since a print newspaper actually “broke” a story, but that’s no longer their place in the world. A successful paper must now focus on analysis. They must write the stories behind the stories that broke the night before.

That’s where they can thrive.

But I fear that the news about Paterno passing away will only serve to put this thought in our heads that newspapers should go the way of the dinosaurs.

If anything, it should make them settle in for a fight to stay relevant.

I wish there was a way to hold those accountable who mislead us to be punished, but, for now, we’ll have to let the Court of Public Opinion levy the punishment.

Our job, for those of us who are active in social media, is not to fan the flames. When we hear something shocking, it’s up to us to check our facts. Read it with a grain of salt.

Because if we don’t, we’re only fanning the flames of inaccuracy. And once we’ve made it clear that we can tolerate mistakes, there’s nothing to hold back the wave of falsity.

/end rant

When Scott Bartosiewicz accidentally dropped the ‘F Bomb Heard ‘Round Detroit’ on Chrysler’s Twitter account on March 9, contrary to popular belief within the walls of Twitter, the world did not end. Chrysler sales did not plummet. My mother did not sign up for a Twitter handle because of the buzz.

I would venture to say, outside of our own little Twitter world, it did not affect us, save for Scott and the unfortunate casualties of the aftershock.

But the few eagle-eyed Twitter users who did catch the errant tweet made sure it wouldn’t go quietly into the night.  They displayed the proper amount of manufactured outrage. One user even took the time to write a blog post publicizing their remarkable catch, but you can’t read the entire post anymore because the entire blog has since been marked ‘private’. [Editor's note: Weird.]

We don’t pretend to be offended when we hear somebody swear in a public place like a bar, for instance, so why do we act so shocked when somebody slips in a bad word in the digital equivalent? I mean, I think it was obvious, in retrospect, that Chrysler didn’t sanction the tweet. Somebody just made a mistake.

And, that happens sometimes.

If you’re paying attention to recent trends in our industry, Twitter seems to be the end all, be all of our profession. In actuality, it’s still just a shiny new toy; a toy that will, ultimately, be replaced by something shinier.

According to a recent blog post, there are only about 20 million “real” Twitter users. Or, about 5 percent of Americans. By comparison, that’s about the same number of Americans who own a 3D television, and nobody is quite sure if (or, when) 3D television will ever go mainstream.

So, essentially, we exist in our own little bubble; the importance we put behind Twitter is entirely of our own doing.

Not that it isn’t valuable. It started well enough: “What are you doing?”

Then we turned it into a tool to share valuable content, which led to valuable conversations, which led to us seeking rock star status.

Now the criticism we heap on others dominates our Twitter feeds. Forget about starting conversations. Forget about establishing connections. It is this drive to be the first to point out others’ faults — and gain a small amount of Internet fame — that has become the new American digital past time.

So I ask: When did it become acceptable to play this game? Probably around the same time we started to give the players even a modicum of attention, I answer. Once we started down that path, it would prove damned near impossible to reverse course.

In my humble opinion, Twitter is best used as a vehicle to share information and spur conversations. That’s it. But some see bringing others’ faults into the mainstream as a badge of honor to display proudly, as if we actually give a shit that somebody goofed.

Most of us do not.

Instead of publicly flogging the flaws, let’s focus on using this tool for good. Save the outrage for something that actually matters.

If Twitter is supposed to be a two-way conversation (like everybody says it is), then how come you aren’t following me?

More specifically, how come, according to FriendorFollow, I am following 268 people who aren’t returning the favor?

Celebrities and busy journalists aside, I try to only follow people who (a) might benefit from what I have to say and (b) would probably follow me back. I want there to be some interaction, not me talking at nobody.

Yet, some of the people I’ve targeted in my given field are apparently too busy to join me in conversation, even if I’ve taken the first step.

So I wonder: am I really that boring? Do I provide so little value that you absolutely can’t add me? Is your time so valuable that you cannot possibly click ‘Follow @bradmarley’ in the drop-down menu? We all know you’re notifed by e-mail when somebody new follows us, so what’s the deal?

This is Twitter we’re talking about; I’m not asking you to opt-in to a direct mail campaign, or provide a monetary donation to your alma mater.

At the end of the day, this is merely just another way to communicate on the Web, so let’s communicate.

Let me start out by saying that I have huge amounts of respect for Chris Brogan. Here’s a guy who, if you read his early blog posts, started down his path of social media stardom by writing innocuous posts about his attempt to get in shape.

Now, he’s one of the most sought-after speakers and influencers in social media. Through no fault of his own, Brogan is a celebrity. He could tweet ‘Preparing to take off my pants and run through Boston’ and 10,000 followers would retweet his upcoming plans.

This is called The Chris Brogan Effect.

It’s when people attach themselves to others because they hope to attain popularity through association. While Twitter certainly wasn’t intended to be a clique-y tool, that’s exactly where it’s headed.

Yesterday, the day after Social Media Day in Detroit, a guy I follow on Twitter tweeted a list of influential Twitter users in Detroit, calling them “Detroit’s Mt. Rushmore of Social Media.”

Here is a spoon. Now, please gag me with it.

Rather than encouraging collaboration and communication and equality among users, the Unofficial List of Detroit Twitter Users You Really Want to Attach Yourself To has been drawn up. And, guess what? You’re likely not on it.

So those whose faces have been virtually etched in granite will sit atop the mountain and dispense their wisdom and check-in locations to the masses, while the serfs (“twerfs”? No. That’s not acceptable.) scrounge and fight for the crumbs of recognition that will inevitably become the rewards of a mention or a direct message.

If this is a precursor for the future of Twitter, I’m not sure I want to be a part of it. It’s a shame, too, because I think we all see the immense value in it. But when you start calling out the cool kids, everyone wants to sit at their lunch table.

And, to think, you thought we left all of this behind in high school.

Pssh.

(p.s. If you think I used Chris Brogan’s name to draw in readers, well, you’re absolutely correct.)

If your musical tastes were formed in the late-90′s, chances are you worshipped Fred Durst and his rock/rap hybrid group, Limp Bizkit.

Their debut album, Three Dollar Bill, Yall$, was so unexpected and out-of-place – ”Wannabe” by the Spice Girls, and “Barbie Girl” by Aqua, were lighting up the charts in 1997 – that millions of young and impressionable people couldn’t help but get swept up in the musical anger that Fred & Co. provided.

But after the release of a couple more wildly, albeit suggestively-titled, albums, they disappeared just as quickly as they stormed onto the scene. They were seemingly destined for a future version of “Where Are They Now?”, which is why I was just as shocked as you were when I learned Fred Durst was using Twitter.

“Wasn’t he recently busted for cheating on Sandra Bullock?” was my first response, also.

But when I investigated his account, I was stunned to realize that he is putting on a Twitter clinic. There are numerous bloggers and so-called “experts” who explain how to properly use Twitter. But Fred Durst is the only man who is leading by example.

I pulled some of his recent tweets as a guide on how to successfully use Twitter.

Rule #1: Promote others, not yourself.

New @Eminem album is fucking brilliant.

June 24, 2010 6:34 pm via TwittelatorReplyRetweetFavorite

@freddurst

Fred Durst

Rule #2: Be sure to dole out useful advice.

Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves - ae

June 22, 2010 12:14 pm via TwittelatorReplyRetweetFavorite

@freddurst

Fred Durst

Rule #3: Ask questions.

What do you think of the smoking baby? He smokes 40 cigs a day! It's freaky deaky to me. So bizarre.

June 1, 2010 10:28 am via TwittelatorReplyRetweetFavorite

@freddurst

Fred Durst

Rule #4: Engage with your audience.

lmbo RT @Forest013 Man I am so fucking tired of limp bizkit and @freddurst when will that band just fucking go away?

June 13, 2010 9:38 pm via TwittelatorReplyRetweetFavorite

@freddurst

Fred Durst

Rule #5: Geolocation is hot – use it to enhance your tweets.

Cracking up at some young woman taking a pee on sunset blvd. When you gotta go, you gotta go!

May 21, 2010 8:24 pm via TwittelatorReplyRetweetFavorite

@freddurst

Fred Durst

I know people like Chris Brogan and Sarah Evans know a thing or two about Twitter, but do they do it all for the nookie?