There are two things you probably should know about Washington Post columnist and radio show host Mike Wise. One is that he's probably one of the most well-known columnists in the area and probably holds a ton of insider information. The other? He's only recently become a very active user of Twitter.
↵Both of these key points came to a head earlier today when Wise decided to play a little joke on people. Here are some of the tweets he sent out earlier today.
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↵Roethlisberger will get five games, I'm told.
Mike Wise
MikeWiseguy
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↵Donovan McNabb will start Sept. 12, I'm told.Mike Wise
MikeWiseguy
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↵Malcolm Kelly will be out Thursday night, I'm told.Mike Wise
MikeWiseguy
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These are all things that Mike Wise could potentially know. The problem? He's making them all up. In fact, on his radio show earlier, he reportedly bragged about picking up new followers by fabricating stories.
↵Maybe he thinks the ends justify the means. Maybe he's trying to make some sort of multi-layered commentary on the explosion of social media and the widespread use of anonymous sources. Hell, maybe he's just trying to be funny, in which case he's failing.
↵Whatever Wise's motive, though, there's no reason for him to stoop to this level. I hate to go all Mark Jackson on everyone, but Mike Wise, you're better than that. I hope you enjoy your new followers.
↵UPDATE: Wise has issued this response on his Twitter account:
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↵As part of a bit on my show today, I tried to test the accuracy of social media reporting. Probably not the best way to go about experimentMike Wise
MikeWiseguy
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↵But in the end, it proved two things: 1. I was right about nobody checking facts or sourcing and 2. I'm an idiot. Apologies to all involved.Mike Wise
MikeWiseguy
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