Later that night, after a presidential address, the infection of Tom Hanks, and the suspension of the NBA, the rest of the country finally woke up, and along the way, something interesting happened: Twitter became a much worse source of information. Once we get through this crisis, it will be worth keeping in mind the story of Twitter and the heroic Seattle Flu Study team: what stopped them from doing critical research was too much centralization of authority and bureaucratic decision-making what ultimately made their research materially accelerate the response of individuals and companies all over the country was first their bravery and sense of duty, and secondly the fact that on the Internet anyone can publish anything. For weeks a motley collection of folks - some epidemiologists and public health officials, but many not - had been sounding the alarm on Twitter about the exponential spread of SARS-CoV-2 and the impact the resultant COVID-19 disease would have on health care systems, culminating in a member of the Seattle Flu Study tweeting the results of an illegal test showing community transmission in Washington State. Last Wednesday morning, I wrote a piece called Zero Trust Information, where I lauded social media generally and Twitter specifically for functioning as an early warning system for the impending coronavirus crisis.
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