The Sky Is Falling...According To "The Internets"

I try to be aware of the news.  I listen to NPR as I get ready in the morning and also I read through articles on Google News during breaks at work .  I’ll admit that I get a lot of my news from The Daily Show & The Colbert Report too.  And yes, I agree:  that last sentence is a sad commentary on modern T.V. news.  What has crept up on me in the past few years is how the dissemination of information has changed.  It's incredible to me the amount of breaking news I get from my friends or "likes" on Facebook:  celebrity deaths, earthquakes, political squabbles, and so on. 

Earlier this week I was scanning through my Facebook feed and saw a few posts that took me aback:

“Witnesses reporting screams and gunfire heard inside Capitol building” 

"BREAKING: Capitol building being evacuated. 12 children held hostage by group of armed congressmen. #CongressHostage." 

"Police helicopter just ordered to pull back after Rep. Trent Franks tried to take it down with a shotgun. #CongressHostage." 

"BREAKING: Congress demanding $12 trillion ransom or "all the kids die" #CongressHostage."

WHAT!?!?!  Should I switch on the TV or maybe CNN.com has more info on …oh wait, that’s a post by The Onion.  (https://twitter.com/#!/Theonion)  Whew.  Not their best joke, but whatever.  In reality it took about as long for me to dismiss this "news" item than it took you to read the “W” in “WHAT!?!?!”  As far as I’m concerned that’s where this story should have ended.  It didn’t…