Twitter has been flooded with reputation, as well as useful information. Photo: Iain Masterton/AlamyRiots spread across London and the rest of the country in the last few days, Twitter has been flooded with rumours, exaggeration and outright untruth with people spreading useful news.
Here are a few simple pointers on how to get the most out of Twitter as news breaks — and to avoid scaring people in the process.
Unless you can see it happening, not Tweet about it.
It can be extremely tempting to convey vital information – for example – Primark in Tooting has burned to the ground. It is an extremely sad tanks for passionate supporters the Leopard-Print leggings and cheap handbags in south London, so it is not surprising that the news spread like wildfire on Monday evening.
The problem was that it was completely untrue and served only to spread fear among the people who live there. In this case, there was a pall of smoke hanging over the high street, and people who could not see the source put two and two together and came up with 47 – and then their friends helpfully made matters worse by retweeting it.
Remember that some people make jokes.
This is how Tooting Primark story began: with people doing silly rhyming jokes about steal in Ealing and looting in Tooting. The problem is that only one of these things were actually happening at the time, but people latched onto the phrase as if it were true. If you see this kind of casual references, bear in mind they might just have to make a punchline. Again, if you are not certain, ask.
Remember to be afraid of something is not the same as knowing that it will happen.
A lot of the most virulent rumors Monday evening in London came through people tweeting things like, ' Oh God, I am afraid they will come to Luton-Brighton/Scunthorpe. " Somehow, in the course of a few tweets, change these thoughts in others say "I am hearing rumours about them coming to Luton-Brighton/Scunthorpe!" and the whole affair snowballed from there. It is quite understandable that people are afraid of what might happen, and wants to talk about it – but don't assume this means that looters devoted descending at Scunthorpe.
If you can see rumors, ask them directly.
If you retweet a rumor, even if you're looking for confirmation that it is not true, what you can do is scare set a whole new people not knew that they might be in danger from, say, a giant fire-breathing Deborah Meaden rampaging against Westminster.
Rather than passing it, and thus spreading fear, try tweeting people directly to ask if they know something is settled, or whether they might have got a touch confused between the new Dragon The and rolling riot coverage. Try to get direct confirmation from someone who has actually seen Deborah in all her glory.
Get verification.
Is this picture really of Birmingham, or is it of London? Have the local police said something about the riots in Scunthorpe? Has anyone got any pictures of giant Deborah Meaden? If not, how can you tell what is true?
If you see something you don't know really, try to correct it.
Some people, for reasons unknown, enjoy tweeting random untruths composed entirely in capital letters on the Shepherd's Bush is on fire. Some of these people are reacting well when asked politely to pull back their opinions, while others may respond with a frantic barrage of random abuse easily for no apparent reason.
People according to what is going on in their neighbouring countries will however understand you are trying to get the truth out — regardless of whether it is through the questioning of any person or tweeting images of bits Shepherds Bush, which is absolutely not on fire. Try adding the connection to your tweets – give people good reasons to believe you more than the other person.
If you are tweeting about things you can see, be specific.
Remember: If you can see it, and you have the means to publish information about it, it makes you a de facto reporter. So be responsible with their power. Be specific about where you are and what you can see.
Resist the urge to exaggerate or take on things you can't see-stick to what is in front of you if you can Tweet pictures, do – but bo safely and do not take unnecessary risks to do. You is also important to lose.
Follow the people you trust to be accurate.
Many local police forces have uses Twitter to distribute information and field rumours, and it is worth finding your and after them, there are a lot of journalists on Twitter – national newspaper tweetere like our Guardian team, including Paul Lewis , as well as mustafa khaliliand dozens of journalists from other papers, BBC, Sky and ITN News team.
There are also local journalists from the local papers, freelancers and all kinds of people are bound to ensure the dissemination of the truth and do not spread rumors. Each community has a few cultural life that makes this work. Find yours and help them.
This Twitter list of trusted journalists covering the riots, produced by Sky News producer Neal Mann, aka @ field producer, is also useful.
If you've been out looting and unrest, please Tweet about it.
Following this advice will help police the job much easier.
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