When news of Michael Jackson’s death filtered through by text in the pub last week, many present jumped straight onto their Twitter accounts to see if they could ascertain if it was hoax or truth (myself included). In the next hour as the news varied from unconfirmed to “alive but in a coma” and back again in a torrent of Chinese whispers, it was a salient reminder that Twitter should not be treated as a legitimate news source in any capacity.

This hasn’t stopped Twitter becoming the first port of call for many looking to announce or denounce. Last week, NME Editor Conor McNicolas resigned from his position on the micro-blogging service telling his “followers” that he is moving to become editor at Top Gear magazine while in the aftermath to a alleged assault between celebrity blogger Perez Hilton and Will.I.Am of Black Eyed Peas, both took to Twitter and videoblogs to fight their corner. Perez tweeted that he was attacked by Will.I.Am and his security guards – “I am bleeding. I need to file a police report.” He had time to tweet but not ring the police?
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