Explosion at the Boston Marathon.

[BrotherDesmond]

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/RetSignman/NFPlOCI_zpsda0b878e.jpg[qimg]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f92/RetSignman/NFPlOCI_zpsda0b878e.jpg[/qimg]

More great "internet sleuthing".

 

[MattusMaximus]

Keep it coming, BD. These supposed critical thinkers need to get a bit of comeuppance.

 

[zeggman]

IIRC, that clear image was sent to the FBI by the photographer. The internet picked it up after the fact.

It was published on Reddit before it was published on the FBI site. I know that for a fact.

 

[Puppycow]

This was posted earlier by someone else and is a better article about that particular stuff-up:

It Wasn't Sunil Tripathi: The Anatomy of a Misinformation Disaster
How a terrible misidentification of two people with no connection to the Boston bombing spread so far, so fast

By this time, there was a full-on frenzy as thousand upon thousands of tweets poured out, many celebrating new media's victory in trouncing old media.

 

[AdMan]

Tripathy with shaggy hair.

[qimg]http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/774/f9paw5.jpg[/qimg]

Real fine "internet sleuthing guys.

It certainly was a mistake to name any names without any sort of confirmation.

Looking through pictures for potential suspects who appeared to be the ones in the FBI images (this was how the high-quality photo of Suspect 2 was found) and enhancing them, identifying logos on hats from low-quality pictures provided by the FBI (the hat ID info was sent to the FBI--it might have proven useful had the case evolved differently), etc., is a completely different matter, IMO.

 

[zeggman]

The fun part is, the name "Sunil Tripathi" can't be found in any recordings of the police band chatter last night - not even once. The Boston police never uttered the name over the radio. The claim was a hoax.

And the suspects didn't rob a 7-11. Maybe that claim was a hoax too.

 

[Puppycow]

That's hilarious.

Every single one of your "internet sleuths" was still searching feverishly for Sunil Tripathi and the completely nonexistent "Mike Mulugeta" when NBC, the major television news network, released the actual names of the suspects which no internet sleuth had even suggested once.

Thanks to your "internet sleuths", multiple "help find Sunil Tripathi" websites and Facebook pages were taken down by their owners due to the flood of awful and undeserved comments they were receiving after the "internet sleuths" identified him as a terrorist.

I read the same post as sarcasm.

 

[MattusMaximus]

It certainly was a mistake to name any names without any sort of confirmation.

Looking through pictures for potential suspects and enhancing them, identifying logos on hats, etc., is a completely different matter, IMO.

Yeah, because the FBI asked people to do that... Oh wait, they didn't.

The FBI specifically asked people to send photos and video to them so that the FBI could analyze the data. But apparently you and others heard that and thought it would be a fine idea to play CSI on the Internet.

 

[Checkmite]

Identifying the logo on the suspect's hats might've been personally satisfying, but it sadly was not useful; in fact I find it difficult to imagine a realistic scenario in which it would have been useful.

 

[Checkmite]

I read the same post as sarcasm.

It's not. Zeggman is genuinely convinced the work of Reddit and other sites were integral to the solving of this case.

 

[zeggman]

It certainly was a mistake to name any names without any sort of confirmation.

The Suni Tripathi thing was a fiasco, no question about it. I saw the idea floated on Reddit, thought it was a clear misidentification, and didn't repeat it. Others ran with it, even though the consensus on Reddit was that he was NOT #2.

Looking through pictures for potential suspects who appeared to be the ones in the FBI images and enhancing them, identifying logos on hats from pictures provided by the FBI, etc., is a completely different matter, IMO.

I agree.

Fortunately, the tongue cluckers don't have the power to throw the baby out with the bathwater, though it's obvious they'd like to. Social media will continue to be in play in a free society, and we should try to channel it constructively.

 

[BrotherDesmond]

It certainly was a mistake to name any names without any sort of confirmation.

Looking through pictures for potential suspects who appeared to be the ones in the FBI images (this was how the high-quality photo of Suspect 2 was found) and enhancing them, identifying logos on hats from pictures provided by the FBI, etc., is a completely different matter, IMO.

That photo "comparison" bothered the heel out of me, because it looks exactly like something you'd see on a truther site. I expected more from this forum. I really did.

 

[Savant]

TEREST1
TRORST1
TRRORS1

ETA: After checking the Massachusetts DMV website, it says you can only have 6 spaces, even with a vanity plate... I'm going back to the idea CNN has lost it's collective mind and is reporting things they just think sound cool at this point.

I can't say for Massachusetts, but in California there is a line where you have to tell the DMV what the plate means - even if it's obvious. Unless this fella came up with a plausible alternate interpretation, I can't see them allowing the plate. Unless you don't have to specify in MA.

 

[zeggman]

I read the same post as sarcasm.

It's not. Zeggman is genuinely convinced the work of Reddit and other sites were integral to the solving of this case.

My tone was a little sarcastic, but Checkmite is correct. I think Reddit did help resolve this case more quickly than it would otherwise have been resolved.

 

[Checkmite]

That photo "comparison" bothered the heel out of me, because it looks exactly like something you'd see on a truther site. I expected more from this forum. I really did.

To illustrate the point, here's an image that actually has appeared on "Truther" sites:

http://www.snopes.com/graphics/vogt.jpg

Edited by LashL: 

Hotlinked image changed to regular link. Please see Rule 5.

 

[MattusMaximus]

That photo "comparison" bothered the heel out of me, because it looks exactly like something you'd see on a truther site. I expected more from this forum. I really did.

Same here. The number of people here who got caught up in this stupidity, and who continue to do so, astonishes me. On the upside, they could all probably qualify as fact-checkers at CNN

 

[BrotherDesmond]

Yes, Checkmite. That's exactly what I meant.Thanks.

 

[zeggman]

Identifying the logo on the suspect's hats might've been personally satisfying, but it sadly was not useful; in fact I find it difficult to imagine a realistic scenario in which it would have been useful.

You have no way of knowing that. One of #2's friends said one of the pictures reminded her of him, but then she felt guilty for even suspecting him. If he wore that polo hat everywhere, identifying the logo might have given her more confidence that her suspicions were justified.

 

[AdMan]

Yeah, because the FBI asked people to do that... Oh wait, they didn't.

The FBI specifically asked people to send photos and video to them so that the FBI could analyze the data. But apparently you and others heard that and thought it would be a fine idea to play CSI on the Internet.

In the press conference where they presented the images, the FBI said it was relying on the public to be its "eyes and ears," and it asked the public to provide any information it could on the men in the pictures.

They didn't say just to send in photos and videos.

Watch the press conference again or for the first time. I'm sure it's on YouTube.

 

[AdMan]

That photo "comparison" bothered the heel out of me, because it looks exactly like something you'd see on a truther site. I expected more from this forum. I really did.

What "photo comparison" are you referring to?

I assume you're referring to something referenced in my post, since you quoted me.