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I'm not a big Twitter fan but pretty much this article is claiming "Twitter allows people to post what they might otherwise say in general conversation. People

I'm not a big Twitter fan but pretty much this article is claiming "Twitter allows people to post what they might otherwise say in general conversation. People are saying things that can cause panic and so people who take what others say at face value without confirmation will also be panicked." The most alarming statement in this article was "The question of whether we need to somehow alter our global information flows during global pandemics is not a trivial one". Fight fear with education, not with censorship.

lucumo 18y ago
The problem is that education about the current situation is not reaching them very well. The author suggested that health organisations put updates online as soon and as often as possible. Injecting education into the online information stream if you will. Maybe directly into Twitter even. If some (hopefully recognised) experts were to start Twittering "pork does not kill you", the fear would be culled. Anyway, I doubt this mass hysteria will really be all that huge if things don't get worse. The current situation is still pretty new.
- Tichy 18y ago
  That article could not even quote any severely misinformed tweets. Is it being misinformed to be worried a little bit? Also, the article focused on tweets of scared users, there might be zillions of tweets by users who are not scared. I think if anything, the whole issue might make people reflect more on things they read and hear, which would be a good thing. Other than that, the same kind of articles have probably written years ago, if you replace "twitter" with "internet" or "wikipedia". While I don't panic, I find the whole thing interesting because I have never actually witnessed a pandemic. My first epidemic I witnessed last christmass, when the whole family suddenly had a vomitting virus. That was a bit scary. A global epidemic would therefore be really scary. Since few people have experience with this, worrying seems like a sane reaction. Or would the appropriate reaction be "I am sure the government will handle it fine, and if anything serious was going on, they would surely warn me on TV"?
  - lucumo 18y ago
    It is misinformed to say that you shouldn't eat pork, yes. But I don't blame the misinformed ones, as you seem to imply. I'm just thinking of solutions to help people grasp the situation better. Being afraid is - currently - somewhat an overreaction if you don't live in Mexico City. Not eating pork is probably healthy, but completely misinformed if used to ward of the pig flu. You have a point though, when you say the article focuses on one side. Maybe there are very informed tweets and maybe people are corrected if they say something stupid.

lucumo 18y ago

The problem is that education about the current situation is not reaching them very well. The author suggested that health organisations put updates online as soon and as often as possible. Injecting education into the online information stream if you will. Maybe directly into Twitter even. If some (hopefully recognised) experts were to start Twittering "pork does not kill you", the fear would be culled. Anyway, I doubt this mass hysteria will really be all that huge if things don't get worse. The current situation is still pretty new.

Tichy 18y ago
That article could not even quote any severely misinformed tweets. Is it being misinformed to be worried a little bit? Also, the article focused on tweets of scared users, there might be zillions of tweets by users who are not scared. I think if anything, the whole issue might make people reflect more on things they read and hear, which would be a good thing. Other than that, the same kind of articles have probably written years ago, if you replace "twitter" with "internet" or "wikipedia". While I don't panic, I find the whole thing interesting because I have never actually witnessed a pandemic. My first epidemic I witnessed last christmass, when the whole family suddenly had a vomitting virus. That was a bit scary. A global epidemic would therefore be really scary. Since few people have experience with this, worrying seems like a sane reaction. Or would the appropriate reaction be "I am sure the government will handle it fine, and if anything serious was going on, they would surely warn me on TV"?
- lucumo 18y ago
  It is misinformed to say that you shouldn't eat pork, yes. But I don't blame the misinformed ones, as you seem to imply. I'm just thinking of solutions to help people grasp the situation better. Being afraid is - currently - somewhat an overreaction if you don't live in Mexico City. Not eating pork is probably healthy, but completely misinformed if used to ward of the pig flu. You have a point though, when you say the article focuses on one side. Maybe there are very informed tweets and maybe people are corrected if they say something stupid.