The New York Times just published an interesting article about the influence of online rumors and how, all to often, these stories can overwhelm efforts to set the record straight.

Researchers at the University of Columbia have tracked the scary rate at which false stories are shared online and created a unique online tool called Emergent which aims to develop best practices for debunking misinformation. You can view a list of rumors being tracked on its homepage, stating whether the story is true, false or unverified.

As I briefly scanned the false stories, I recalled seeing some of them shared on Twitter or other social channels. For example, the news that ESPN had planned a special domestic violence panel that didn’t include any women. Like many others, I remember reading those headlines and feeling annoyed (see examples of angry instant reactions on Twitter below):

Yet, Emergent’s analysis found the story to be false. The rumor started when the opening sentence of an Esquire article entitled ‘ESPN has a problem with women’ was widely interpreted as saying that ESPN was set to run a special panel, hosted only by men, which would address the specific subject of domestic violence in the NFL. In fact, the pre-game show was actually running as normal, with a segment on domestic violence.

This false story received 8,245 social shares, yet the news that set the record straight (a Deadspin article entitled ‘That ESPN Domestic Violence Panel You Keep Hearing About Isn’t Real’) received only 525 shares.

This is hardly surprising. Humans love gossip and drama – and are probably far more likely to share a sensational headline on social channels because it’s simply more entertaining. However, many of those users shared that story genuinely thinking it was true and Emergent’s findings are a vital reminder to not believe everything you read online – especially if you’re going to share it with others.

Emergent could be a useful tool for Social Media Managers looking to verify a story that relates to a client’s industry before they reference it online. I’m excited to see how it develops.