Why Twitter can be bad

So many reasons why twitter can be good.

 

But tonight proves why Twitter can be  bad. Right now there is a slow speed chase that has ended, and while a standoff ensues, a white $100,000+ Bentley was being driven from 6:30pm until the car stopped in Universal City around 11:00pm.

While the Bentley with Illinois plates was being driven by a man who KTLA was calling a suspect in a domestic assault case, Twitter was going nuts that the driver of the car was singer Chris Brown. Chris Brown is being accused of domestic abuse and the alleged victim is his (ex)girlfriend singer Rihanna.

No one knows this for sure. And while this chase has been going on for almost four hours, the twitterverse started the rumor that the driver is Chris Brown. Perhaps it is. While the case was going on, the only information KTLA news was reporting was the type of car and that it was being driven by a man, who was armed and the car had Illinois tags.

Even though information was sparse, twitter had put Chris Brown in the car. Tags like “Chris Brown” and #Chase littered twitter, without attribution. I posted that it may be Chris Brown once KTLA reported that it could be Chris Brown, but as soon as KTLA reported that LAPD said this was not a celebrity, I retracted that statement.  

While Twitter trends are like flashes in the pan and we get information in real-time, the problem is when answers don’t come from the ground quickly enough, rumors can get out of hand.