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"According to many Twitter users, Elizabeth Warren was projected by NBC News to win her bid for Ted Kennedy's former Senate seat at approximately 9 p.m. ET Tuesday night, but that wasn't true. Warren did indeed eventually win, but NBC News' actual projection didn't come until 47 minutes later. \nSo what happened in those 47 minutes?\nA bit after 9 p.m. ET, a slew of journalists, media outlets and election-watchers \u2014 including myself \u2014 began tweeting that NBC News called the race for Warren. Those of us that retweeted the news did so because we saw it being tweeted by many of the most trustworthy sources in our stream, so it was \"safe\" to assume it was legit. \nHowever, some of us slowly began to realize there was a problem with the report \u2014 no NBC journalists or official accounts were tweeting it. \nAs we began to backtrack, issue corrections and apologize for getting it wrong, NBC itself mobilized to get the correct information out on Twitter. Quashing a Twitter rumor, especially once it's gone viral and been retweeted by credible sources, can be a bit like closing Pandora's Box. But once the social media monitoring team at NBC spotted the errant news, it moved quickly to dispel it. \n@MSNBC and @NBCnews responded to tweets from some of the most highly-followed news accounts that tweeted it, such as @ThinkProgress and @DailyIntel. At 9:22 p.m. ET, NBC News Communications Director Erika Masonhall picked up her iPad and tweeted the following:\n\nFor the record: NBC News has NOT YET projected a winner in MA Senate race. Currently characterized as \"too early to call\"\n\u2014 Erika Masonhall (@ErikaMasonhall) November 7, 2012\n\nAnd even Brian Williams, NBC's election night anchor, was forced to address the rumor on live television \u2014 a sign of Twitter's incredible power to spread information, whether legitimate or otherwise.\n\nSEE ALSO: Elizabeth Warren Twitter Rumor Briefly Dupes News Sites, Journalists\nNeither @ThinkProgress nor @DailyIntel were to blame for the initial rumor, though. Where did the whole thing start? \nMashable's Stephanie Haberman traced the first tweet \u2014 \"patient zero,\" so to speak \u2014 to @CAPCongress, an account affiliated with the progressive think tank Center for American Progress. \nThat account's manager, Alan Rosenblatt, told Mashable that he misread NBC News' website and sent a tweet saying the network called the race for Warren \u2014 which, of course, it hadn't yet done. Rosenblatt, though, sent the tweet and powered-down for his commute home, later logging back on only to realize his mistake. He deleted the tweet, but not before the (inadvertent) damage was done.\nSeveral news sites, including BuzzFeed, The Daily Beast and MotherJones were tricked by the faux report, posting full stories before NBC News legitimately called the race for Warren closer to the 10 o'clock hour. Had the contest gone the other way, it would've been a much more embarrassing failure for these sites and all reporters \u2014 again, myself included \u2014 who tweeted the news without first authenticating it.\nIn my opinion, Rosenblatt nor any one reporter or social media manager is to blame for the rumor that let Warren win twice. The rumor wasn't started with mischievous intent, as was the case with at least one Twitter user during Hurricane Sandy. Ultimately, it was a failure of journalism \u2014 and in every failure of journalism, there's a lesson to be learned. In this case, it's a basic tenet of reporting: Always check your sources.\nDid you see the Warren rumor? What do you think reporters and others should do to prevent Twitter rumors from going viral? Share your thoughts in the comments.\nImage Credit: Flickr, qwrrty\nMore Coverage of Election 2012\n\nBarack Obama Tweets Victory in 2012 Presidential Election\nYes, We GIFed: Obama\u2019s Animated Election Victory Celebration\nDonald Trump Freaks Out on Twitter After Obama Wins Election\nA Look Inside the Obama and Romney Headquarters on Election Night [PICS]\n15 Funny \u2018Moving to Canada\u2019 Tweets for Election Night\nObama\u2019s Victory Tweet Is His Most Retweeted Ever\nKarl Rove Refuses to Accept Obama\u2019s Election Win [VIDEO]\nWatch Mitt Romney Deliver His Concession Speech [VIDEO]\n\n\n\n\nMashable explores the trends changing politics in 2012 and beyond in Politics Transformed: The High Tech Battle for Your Vote, an in-depth look at how digital media is reshaping democracy. Read a few of the top posts from the series:\n\nElection 2040: The First President for Digital Natives\nVoter Data: What the Candidates Know About You\nHow to Market the Next President\nGaffesplosion: The Unrelenting Hype of Modern Politics\nHow Social Media Can Safeguard Your Vote\n\nTake it with you, buy  Politics Transformed: The High Tech Battle for Your Vote on e-book and get access to four exclusive interviews!\n      window._msla=window.loadScriptAsync||function(src,id){if(document.getElementById(id))return;var js=document.createElement('script');js.id=id;js.src=src;document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0].parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);};\n_msla(\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\",\"twitter_jssdk\");"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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