CDC Backs Coverage of Swine Flu by Social Media

In addition to news stories, social media websites have become valuable tools for rapid spread of news information. According to CNN, the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) is glad for the amount of healthy conversation and news dissemination like Facebook and Twitter regarding the swine flu outbreak.

It seems every time I turn on the tv news this week, the swine flu and the latest cases cropping up all around California and the U.S. make the headlines. Not to diminish the magnitude of the flu contagion (and let's remember that all strains of flu take tens of thousands of lives each year in the U.S.), but sometimes IMHO news sensationalism is a pestilence in itself, only aggravating the mental and emotional states of readers and viewers.

This is where social media now seems to play a health counterbalance when intaking news stories. Whether or not online conversation further fuels the fire, interestingly I've noticed the opposite approach by news agencies over the swine flu. I've noticed people online are expressing discontent with the increasing number of stories about a disease that is treatable, but news stations and media seem to be driving more fear into viewers' minds.

Whereas it used to be that people absorbed what they saw or heard on news and then discussed it offline at their next meeting at work, over lunch or by phone, having healthy discussions with other people in rapid time such as social media can help add much needed perspective and education to a conversation.

How have you used social media to add discussion or perspective to hot news topics?