Twitter is a beast. I don’t mean that in a bad way either. What I mean is that, with its rapidly growing userbase and its mainstream media acceptance, Twitter has become the go-to place for breaking news on the web. Unfortunately, not all of the news that breaks on Twitter is true. In fact, when it comes to some hot trends, if it’s not outright false, often times, it is only partially true.

In part, this stems from the fact that users only have 140 characters to share the news. A lot can get lost in translation in only 140 characters. The second reason for this is that, if a story is hot enough, people will retweet it without checking its authenticity. Ultimately, what this causes is a glut of Twitter hoaxes ranging from fake celebrity deaths to old news stories being reshared as new, and a number of other embarrassing accidents.

In an article for ABC News, Ki Mae Heussner talks about seven of the most compelling Twitter hoaxes in recent history and how Twitter misinformation has even been a part of the recent Haiti earthquake crisis.

From the article:

On Wednesday night, Twitter users got busy again, sharing news that American Airlines was offering free flights to Haiti for doctors and nurses involved with relief efforts. The tweeted – and re-tweeted — message included the phone number for the Haitian Consulate in New York.

An American Airlines spokesman told ABCNews.com Thursday that the messages contained “misinformation.” But by the time the hoax was debunked, it had generated a storm of “American Airlines” tweets and tied up the consulate’s phone line.

I think one of the most interesting aspects of the web is that, as it exists, it is a neutral entity. The Internet has no way of determining whether information is either true nor false. It is just a repository for information. It is up to individuals to determine whether or not what they are reading is credible. If you see something on Twitter that seems unbelievable, you should treat it as such.

To determine if something you’re reading online is legit, you should do a Google search to try and find out where the story is coming from. You should also examine the source URL to find out if it’s actually coming from a legitimate news website. And, perhaps most importantly, you should read the content that you’re about to retweet before you send it (something that rarely happens in the fast paced worl of micro-blogging.)

A healthy skepticism about web content is a necessary skill to have in leading a successful digital life.   Not only will it keep you from looking foolish for passing along a bogus story, but it will help preserve the integrity of the web.