A week after the debacle that prematurely killed Joe Paterno on Twiiter, we log in to find Twitter followers are trending #RIP JackieChan #RIP Cher #RIP Adele and #RIP Demi. The hashtag #RIP Justin Bieber is a constant.) I collected some samples.
This is a great time to remind ourselves about the unreliability of Twitter as a primary source and to balance the competing values of speed and accuracy. As Poynter.org wrote this week, speed is almost never the most important thing. In fact, long-term, it has little value.
I offer these Social Media ethics guidelines that I helped write for RTDNA.
Aim for the Heart: Writing, Reporting, Photojournalism, Producing, Ethics and Resources for journalists 
The Twitter fake deaths thing is pretty funny. Everybody goes into panic mode and starts re-tweeting like sheep.