How do I know what I know?

I’m pretty lucky I get to learn a lot every day as a journalist and social media addict.  In fact, I essentially get paid to learn.  Granted some of it is ridiculous, but some of it really racks my brain.   Due to my ambitious nature I am going to name two things I learned on social media today.  Now, I do understand this may come across as brown-nosing (are you reading Dr. T?), but no one gets ahead in life doing just enough, right?  I’m also hoping my snarkiness comes through in the digital text so you know I’m not being serious!  The truth is I see so much great stuff and so much ridiculous stuff on a daily basis that it's worth pointing out one of each.

  

Championship Branding

Let’s start with something I thought was a fake document, but turned out to be funny and brilliant.  Twitter was on fire last night and this morning with a “get out of work” letter from the U.S. soccer coach.  If you missed it, a picture was spreading quickly on Twitter Wednesday night.  It was a form letter supposedly from U.S. Soccer Coach Jurgen Klinsmann for you to give your boss and beg for time off to watch the critical game against Germany on Thursday.   

I admit it, I thought it was something created by some 15-year-old kid who knows significantly more about computers than I do or probably ever will.  After some searching and going directly to the U.S. Soccer website, I discovered it was created by U.S. Soccer.   In addition, they had posted some videos from comedian and actor Will Ferrell and went on a huge Twitter campaign to garner more than one million followers.  Someone in U.S. Soccer clearly deserves a raise.  Let’s be honest, soccer in the United States is still trying to become of one of the “cool” sports.  Sure, kids play it, but it is not on the same playing field (pun intended) as football, basketball or baseball.  However, with clever social media gimmicks and celebrity content, U.S. Soccer is clearly making the most of World Cup fever, and there’s a chance this branding effort on social media will lure in some long-term fans.

Denied Chicken? 

  

Now for something I learned that lends to the more ridiculous side.  I’ve had a number of friends on Facebook link, like, or share a post related to a girl with permanent facial scarring from a dog mauling who was supposedly denied service at a chain chicken restaurant.  Granted, several news reports covered the alleged incident but after poking around and snooping around, it appears it was never proven accurate.    Yet, I see people continue to post the story and make comments to the effect that the restaurant is “disgusting”, “hateful”, and “I will never eat there again”.  It’s possible it happened, but the problem is people spread the story as if it was a proven fact when it looks more like a he said, she said story.

The Moral of The Story

The moral of the story with these two examples is that new media creates the need in some cases to seek multiple confirmations that information is true.  It’s more and more difficult with social media users spreading misinformation and making judgments without investigating the truthfulness, but it’s the digital world we now live in.  However, social media is also a great way for obtaining credible information if you are getting it from trustworthy sources or are willing to check the reliability of it for yourself.  Basically, my rule is I trust nothing until I can confirm it with multiple trustworthy sources.