Twitter, Google Trends: Mel Gibson Dead

Unsubstantiated rumors of Mel Gibson's death pounded the web in the wee hours of Monday morning, July 19. 2010. Apparently,the victim of a vicious hoax, twitter posts surge as frantic fans scramble to find the latest news on Mel Gibson

Tweets of "RIP Mel Gibson" were supposedly in reference to his career being dead. As one Twitter user explains in a tweet an hour after the original, "im just informing people that Mel Gibson's career is dead. nothing wrong with hating the guy."

Honest misunderstanding? Perhaps.

Unfortunately, many unsuspecting people rely on Twitter for trending news. Google tracking of tweets compounds the issue making tweets appear to be results from news sources. Although informed individuals may discern fact from fiction, many do not.

I find it disconcerting that a social network comprised of people from all walks of life has been given the power to spread rumors without the need to verify sources.

My question to you today: Should the voice of the people be censored?

On one hand, as intelligent people, we should know better than to assume a hot topic on twitter is anything but that. People should be free to express whatever the wish-even if it isn't true.

It should be the responsibility of the reader to verify information before accepting it as fact or drawing conclusions. After all, isn't that what we are charged with in our daily lives? Isn't it ultimately up to the individual to determine the reliability of the source?

However, the ramifications of highly publicized rumors do have an effect on the lives of those who are the victim. Does this mean that any one of us is subject to hoaxes and rumors spread on social networks and appearing in the results of Google searches?

Few of us claim the limelight, but for those who do, are they subject to unsubstantiated claims about their personal lives being spread across the web? Is it simply the new "way of life"?

All I can say is "life is changing" and personal privacy seems to have taken a back seat. I'd love to hear what you have to say on the topic.